


Redemption

by Whenpigsfly84



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:38:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 41,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whenpigsfly84/pseuds/Whenpigsfly84
Summary: Fairy Godmother's magic is failing, as are her spells. The barrier covering the isle is weakening and the villains are plotting while Auradon prepares for war. Will the Vk's be able to stop the invasion in time or will they be forced back into slavery by their parents?





	1. Panic And Determination

Title: Redemption  
Author: Whenpigsfly84  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all story plots, characters, etc are fictional and any resemblance to anyone or thing is coincidental.  
Pairings: Jay/Carlos, Mal/Ben, Evie/Doug  
Rating: T, some graphic violence & swearing  
Genre: Drama

Notes: To my readers who've been following along I just want to let you know this has gone through some edits and revamps as far as chapter length and layout. I've chopped the chapter lengths in several of these making them more manageable but the content has stayed the same. For instance, chapter 1 & 2 used to be all chapter 1 before but it was incredibly long, hence the edit. Thanks, everyone! If you notice any mistakes along the way please give me a heads up.  
*********************************************************************

He was not going to panic, he was not going to freak out, he was going to stay calm and think logically about the situation. There had to be a solution, it might be harrowing for a while but good always triumphed over evil, therefore everything would be fine; eventually.

Glancing down the hall, however, told another story, terrified students raced from room to room, or huddled in wide-eyed groups whispering in hushed tones nervously. Carlos felt his hand start to shake slightly and he clenched the strap of his backpack tighter and gritted his teeth, he wasn't going to panic, he was older and stronger now, he had nothing to be afraid of. He could fight them if he needed to, that is unless they had their magic back. Carlos could hear his mother's cackle, head thrown back in hysterics as he waved a Tourney stick at her in defense. The frantic thudding of his heart was starting to drown out the voices around him.

"Do you think they'll come here first?"  
"Will we be safe?"  
"Are they going to kill us all?"

Carlos ducked his head as he hurried past the scared students and made a beeline for his dorm room. Chucking his backpack near his bed, he began to pace the length of the room, nearly tripping over Jay's Tourney equipment. He began gathering up all the pieces, desperately ignoring the shaking that had spread to both hands now. Once the room was completely spotless, he settled down at his desk determined to calm his nerves with the mountains of mindless homework he had.

One hour earlier  
Jay craned his neck, looking around the auditorium, it was packed with every student and faculty member in the entire school but he couldn't find Mal, Evie or Carlos in the crowd. Classes had been interrupted for an emergency announcement, but instead of Fairy Godmother standing on the stage, it was King Adam who quickly hushed everyone.

"I apologize for the suddenness of this meeting but I fear something of grave importance has come to my attention and I must start making preparations. A few days ago Fairy Godmother started to become ill, and since then has steadily worsened. We do not know the cause of the illness or if it can be cured, at this time experts are being called in for consultation. However, with her illness progressing we've discovered that her magic is weakening, and as such so are all the spells she has cast. Our biggest concern at the moment is obviously the barrier that is surrounding The Isle. We don't know if it's weakened to a worrisome level yet or if it will continue to hold if Fairy Godmother does not get better. So for the meantime, I am going to alert all of your parents and if they feel the need for you to return home we will escort every student from the school. Classes, of course, will be put on hold, I am increasing security around the school, there will be no more excursions into town and a mandatory curfew of 10 pm will be put into place immediately. If anyone has any questions or concerns please feel free to address them to me or Queen Belle, we will both be staying on campus until Fairy Godmother is back on her feet."

The crowd burst into excited titters of conversation as everyone filed out of the auditorium. Jay was swept along with the crowd, his mind a haze as he slowly processed the information that the king had given them. Without even realizing it Jay automatically walked into his next classroom and sat at his desk, several minutes went by and the room remained empty. Jay groaned remembering King Adam had canceled classes, and he headed back to his dorm room, hoping to catch one of his friends in the hallway.

Jay's cell phone buzzed just as he reached for his doorknob, a text message from Mal lit up his screen.

<M> Meeting-our room asap!

Jay quickly opened his door and flung his backpack in without looking before hurrying down the hall to Mal and Evie's room.

Carlos' head snapped up from his chemistry homework as the door cracked open, a familiar backpack was suddenly being launched into the room, landing with a thud and skidding to a halt nearby. "Jay?"

The door snapped shut without a response and Carlos stared in confusion at the closed door, with a shrug Carlos decided to ignore his friend's weird behavior and focus back on the notes in front of him.

Jay gave a quick knock on Mal and Evie's door before slipping inside, seeing the girls, Ben, Doug, and Lonnie all spread around the room, he flopped down on the floor beside the door.

"So?" Jay asked.

Everyone exchanged glances, not really knowing or wanting to start this heavy conversation off.

"I guess I should start by saying, what my father said is true. Fairy Godmother is very sick, she's so weak she can't even get out of bed anymore. She has no idea what caused it and we don't know how much longer she has left," Ben said, his eyes falling into his lap where Mal was holding his hand.

"Do we have any defenses against the villains on the Isle?" Lonnie asked worriedly.

"My father is asking for help from any of the surrounding areas, tripling the guards for the school but honestly I don't really know," Ben replied, his voice tapering off in defeat.

"If they leave the Isle, they can get their magic back, right?" Doug asked. "I mean we're talking about The Evil Queen, Jafar, Ursula, the Queen of Hearts, Hook, Cruella."

Every name caused the group to wince until the last name when Evie finally piped up. "Where's Carlos?"

Every head started swinging back and forth but sure enough, the young boy was nowhere to be found.

"Mal you sent him a text didn't you?" Ben asked, as Jay lept to his feet and left the room.

"Carlos? Dude didn't you get Mal's text, we were supposed to be meeting up in the girls' room," Jay asked.

"Nah, I haven't checked my phone since I got back; trying to work on my Chemistry homework," Carlos replied, barely looking up from his book.

Jay moved further into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. "Carlos, classes have been canceled, you don't need to do that right now. Mal and Ben wanted to talk to us about what's going on."

"Well I don't, okay? There's nothing we can do about helping Fairy Godmother, and everyone else is going home which means we're stuck here, or maybe they'll send us back to the Isle," Carlos snapped.

Jay sighed, he should have figured that Carlos would have already thought about the entire situation and every possible outcome and was predictably freaking out. "Carlos they're not going to send us back, we'll be safe here."

Carlos just gave him a baleful glare before slamming his books shut, grabbing Dude off his bed and stalking out the door.

Jay slunk back into Mal and Evie's room.

"Where's Carlos?" Mal asked, everyone, staring at him.

"He's busy."

"Doing what? It can't be more important than this," Lonnie insisted.

Jay shot her a hard look. "He doesn't want to talk about this, he knows what'll happen if that barrier comes down. All of you have entire kingdoms to protect you, do you have any idea what's going to happen to us when our parents get set free?"

Lonnie sat back hard as the thought kicked in. Ben wrapped his arm around Mal's shoulder as she slumped against him, Doug and Evie exchanged sad looks.

"You can come with me, stay at my castle. It was my idea to bring you from the Isle, it's my job as King to make sure you're all protected like anyone else in Auradon," Ben said, earning a small smile from Mal.

"I'm sure my parents will agree to help as well, you'll have the entire Chinese army at your command," Lonnie said.

"Maybe your parents won't even notice the barrier weakening. We may have more time than we think," Ben added hopefully.

Jay frowned, he hated the idea of hiding away in some fancy castle while hundreds of villains swarmed over Auradon, destroying everything in their path. It was cowardly, it was weak, and it made him sick. They were sitting ducks here, and Carlos knew it, their parents would find them, would trap them and make their lives a living hell for betraying them.

Leaping to his feet again, Jay stomped out of the room, ignoring his friend's protests and questions. He couldn't go back to his dorm room, he felt like he needed to punch something, run a hundred wind sprints, or scream at the top of his lungs with the amount of anger that that flooding his system. Grabbing up his Tourney gear again, he made his way out to the practice field where he started weaving and bobbing around the grass until he was within distance of the goal before lobbing the ball into the net.

Carlos yawned, as he led Dude out of the forest along the well-worn path they took nearly every night before bed, it was clearly time to head back to his room, though he dreaded the thought of confronting Jay again. He shouldn't have yelled at him earlier, he knew his friends meant well but every time he started thinking about his mother descending down on Auradon, it gave him the chills.

Nearing the castle, a movement to his right caught his attention, there was someone on the Tourney practice field. Detouring slightly, Carlos led Dude closer until he could make out who it was. Sighing as a familiar red beanie came into view, tan muscular arms heaving the stick as hard as he could, Carlos slid onto the bleachers to watch Jay play.

Jay bent over, hands resting on his thighs as he gasped for breath, his head swam slightly as sweat ran from his temples down the sides of his face. He'd completely forgotten to bring anything to drink, or a towel to wipe off with, and his beanie was a wet, heavy weight on his head. Deciding it wasn't worth passing out on the way back, Jay collapsed backward onto the cool grass as his chest continued to heave for breath, his arms and legs splayed out limply.

Carlos jumped up from his seat as Jay stopped and then fell over backward, he dropped Dude's leash and dashed towards his friend. "Jay!"

Jay's head whipped to the side as his name was yelled, Carlos racing towards him looking panicked. He clamored up, getting to his knees before everything spun sickeningly around him and he fell back on his ass. Carlos skidded to a stop on his knees next to Jay, his hands coming up to cradle his friend's face in his hands.

"Jay are you alright? What happened?" Carlos asked, looking his friend over frantically.

"Stood up too fast, what's wrong?" Jay replied.

"What's wrong? One minute you're running around like a superhero and the next you're falling over dead," Carlos said.

Jay huffed out an amused laugh. "You can stop worrying, I was just hot and tired. Guess two practices in one day are a bit much."

Carlos rolled his eyes and sighed, leave it to Jay to give him a heart attack over literally nothing.

"I just need a few minutes to catch my breath," Jay added, flopping back down onto the grass with his eyes closed.

Carlos sighed, he had been trying to avoid everyone since that fateful school assembly this afternoon but he was still slightly concerned over Jay's collapse so he sucked it up and sat down.

Jay cracked an eye open, seeing Carlos sitting, biting his bottom lip, one arm wrapped around his bent knee looking like he was waiting for an excuse to flee again. "Hey, relax will you? We're gonna be fine."

Carlos looked down at him like he was barely keeping his tongue in check. "Fine? Seriously Jay? They're gonna kill us when they get here."

Jay grabbed Carlos' arm and tugged him down onto the grass next to him, the paler boy gave a squawk of surprise before falling backward. Jay grabbed Carlos' hand in a tight grip, "She's not going to hurt you. I promised you before and I'm standing by my word.

"No matter what happens Carlos, I've got your back."

Carlos swallowed the lump of fear in his throat seeing Jay's solid confident look like he'd take on Cruella single handed and fully expect to win. Taking a deep breath, he tried to steady his voice, his nerves frayed to the breaking point. "What about my front?"

Jay cracked a grin and squeezed Carlos' hand, "That too buddy. We're gonna get through this, I promise."


	2. Salvation

Chapter 2:

Uma growled in frustration and anger as two idiots started a brawl in the restaurant, knocking into other people and breaking a few chairs. Normally she loved fights, but not inside where she'd have to clean up and then fix everything these knuckleheads were damaging. Shoving at Harry and Gil's shoulders over the counter, she pointed at the two fighters. "Break 'em up, now!"

The two boys nodded and launched themselves into the fray, causing more shouting and a table to be thrown into a wall.

"That'd better not be in MY restaurant, brat!" Ursula yelled from the kitchen.

Uma leaped over the counter and jumped onto the back of one of the fighters, pinning him to the ground with a boot on his neck. "Move and I'll break it," she snarled. "Harry, Gil, get 'em out of here now!"

The boys jumped up, grabbed an arm of each fighter and hauled them out of the double swinging doors.

"Sorry Uma," Gil muttered, seeing the barely leashed fury in her face.

"Anyone else wanna start something?!" Uma yelled. Everyone left ducked their heads to concentrate on their food. "Good, now clean this mess up!" She glared meaningfully at Harry and Gil as she shoved a broom into the boy's hands.

For the millionth time, she cursed her luck and wondered why she had come back to the Isle after that fiasco on the coronation boat. She could have swum anywhere she wanted, she should have gone somewhere else and started over. She could have passed for human unlike her mother, and nobody would have been looking for her, she doubted even her mother would have noticed her absence and it's not like she would have reported her missing.

Every day was the same, sweeping and cleaning the shabby, urchin encrusted fish and chips shop, her mother bossing her around, nobody appreciating or respecting her and her life going nowhere fast. In Auradon, however, things had been so different, even in the brief time she'd been there she could tell from the looks in all those pastel, preppy goody-two-shoes kids eyes; they were filled with happiness, hope, and more emotions than Uma even had words for. Certainly not any emotions she'd ever felt, there was no anger, fear, resentment or hatred; and she couldn't even describe the feeling that still lingered whenever she thought of how Ben had looked at her, taken her hand and told her how beautiful she looked when she'd come down the stairs all decked out in that fabulous dress.

Uma hated to admit it but she wanted to go back, she wanted to be the center of attention, have people adore her and compliment her dress, her hair and tell her how happy they were that she was there. She wanted her prince charming to hold out his hand and ask to dance, to sweep her off her feet all night long.

Harry suddenly bumped her elbow, his face pinched as he looked at her. "You alright? You look..."

Uma scowled and glared at him, daring him to finish that sentence.

"Distracted, you look distracted," Harry finished quickly, grabbing up a few more plates of food off the counter.

Uma sighed, it really wasn't Harry's fault, but it was almost instinct to lash out at him and Gil for everything. "Do you ever wish things were different? Like what it would be like if we could get off this God forsaken island?"

Harry slid the plates onto the waiting tables, ignoring the customer's complaints about them not being the right items. "I suppose, I've always wanted to sail to all the places my father has told me about. He wasn't always stuck in Neverland, chasing Peter Pan and those stupid Lost Boys all the time."

"Exactly! If I could get out of here I'd swim as far away as the tide would take me, I could be the queen of my own island somewhere. Nothing to do all day but lay in the sand, warm on some beach, nobody telling me what to do," Uma replied, stretching her arms over her head at the wonderful thought.

Harry leaned over the counter, smirking devilishly at Uma. "I'd sail you to the most beautiful beach in the world, sparkling white sands as far as the eye can see. Nothing but the crash of waves, the swaying palm trees and the hot sun warming your skin to distract you."

The smile on Uma's face widened as her eyes closed at the almost sinful promise. Then her shoulders slumped and her arms flopped heavily down on the counter. "We'll never even get the chance, our parents got all the glory and fun and we're going to live and die on this island."

Harry's smile drooped, Uma was right, they'd be doing this exact same thing day in and day out until they finally died of old age, or if they were lucky someone would get the drop on them and kill them before then. The silence stretched on, Harry wasn't sure what to say to turn things around. For a brief moment, the smile on Uma's face had lit her up, had brightened everything in the dingy restaurant and made him long to do anything to keep it that way.

Uma and Harry worked in silence for the rest of the day until the sunset and the daytime crowd thinned and made way for the drunk insomniacs that usually kept them busy until dawn. It was just as the last of the small, dilapidated fishing boats docked that the double swinging doors slammed open and a man stumbled inside in a near panic.

"Something's happening to the barrier! It's still there, but not as strong, my boat almost went through it!"

Uma and Harry charged the man, each grabbing one of his arms and shoving him into a chair at one of the tables.

"What did you say?" Uma demanded.

"The barrier, I was out fishing and didn't realize how close I was getting, suddenly my arm was tingling and when I looked over the whole front of my boat was through the edge of it!" the man exclaimed.

Uma exchanged a look with Harry and she bent down closer to the man. "Did you go through it?"

The man frantically shook his head. "I tried to put my hand through it but it burnt all the hair off. I didn't want to lose my hand."

Uma looked around the restaurant, there were only two other customers and neither had paid any attention to the loud fisherman. "Who else have you told?"

"Nobody, I was the last boat in but maybe we can get through it now. Shouldn't we try?" the man asked eagerly.

Harry let out a bark of a laugh and slung an arm around the man's shoulder, grabbing the arm that was missing all the hair up to the elbow. "I thought you wanted to keep your limbs? Ya, you go ahead and throw yourself through the barrier if you want but don't come crying to us when it fries you alive."

The man snatched back his arm nervously.

Uma smirked dangerously down at him, "Don't let me hear you told anyone else about this, otherwise I'll throw you into the barrier myself and we'll all see whether or not your fish tale is true!"

The man nodded in fear, shrinking back from Uma's feral grin and blazing eyes. He wasn't stupid enough to cross Ursula's daughter and Captain Hook's son, especially if he wanted to keep his head on his shoulders. He quickly scrambled up from his seat and raced back through the double doors.

"So?" Harry asked.

"So what? You want to go out there and see for yourself if what that idiot said was true?" Uma asked.

"You think it's possible?"

Uma shrugged, though the thought swam tantalizingly in her mind. "You really think the Fairy Godmother would let the only thing keeping all the world's villains trapped, weaken even a little bit? If they found out there was even a chance, every one of them would be trying to break through it."

"Ya if they knew, can you remember the last time anyone even tried?"

"Didn't we dare that guy last month to see how deep he could dive to see if there was a way underneath it?" Uma asked.

Harry chuckled, Uma could get quite creative when she got bored, it always kept things interesting. "My point is, if we all think it's still there it could go down and we'd never know."

Uma tapped her nails thoughtfully on the table, her gaze steady on a point just outside the front doors. If there was even the slightest chance of getting through that barrier and away from this island she wanted it. Hopefully, if she did get through it would give her a big enough head start before everyone else figured it out as well.

"If we did manage to get through the barrier, what then?" Uma asked.

"We could go anywhere we wanted, with just a little bit of magic we could get the Jolly Roger sailing in no time and have the whole ocean all to ourselves," Harry replied.

"What about my mother? You think she'd just let me go?"

Harry paused, his old man was already gone, but Ursula had once wanted to rule all the world's oceans and if she got her tentacles on that trident once again there wouldn't be a puddle that she couldn't find them in.

"Well, we gotta know one way or another," Uma declared, pushing away from the table.

Harry stood up as well, "you're going out there, aren't you?"

Uma glanced back at the kitchen where her mother was busily frying up the next few batches of food. "She won't notice right away as long as you keep serving the food. If she asks, tell her I ran out to get more potatoes."

"Wait, how long are you gonna be gone?" Harry asked.

"Dunno, guess it depends on if I can get through or not," Uma grinned and dashed out the doors.

Harry raced after her, stopping at the edge of the dock while Uma leaped off in a graceful arc before diving head first into the water below. He watched as she surfaced a few dozen feet away, already transformed, her own tentacles much like her hated mother's spinning and slashing through the water. Harry wished he could sprout a tail, tentacles, gills or fins and go after her, but the water was Uma's domain and his bitter secret was that he couldn't swim.

There was another reason why most people didn't test the barrier very often, it was a lot further away than it looked. Uma didn't have much reason to swim for long periods or at all these days and by the time the barrier's near iridescent sheen came into sight she was barely able to keep herself afloat. Leaning back into the water, she spread herself out and tried to catch her breath. It was pitch dark out here, the only light far behind her on the island and the near blinding brilliance of Auradon far ahead of her. Floating on the gentle current that bobbed her to and fro in the water, Uma wondered if she could just stay like this, between the two places, neither on the Island of the Lost or Auradon, neither villain nor hero. Sighing, Uma rolled her eyes in annoyance of her melancholy thoughts, of course, she'd have to choose, there was no in-between place where she could hide. Looking back, the island looked depressing, shrouded in a heavy gloom that never lifted, dilapidated buildings sagging under years of neglect and people beat down by their meaningless existence. Auradon, however, gleamed brilliantly in front of her, even at night their buildings shone radiant, and Uma could almost feel the warmth coming from inside those cozy homes where fireplaces were stoked and offered a welcome to everyone. Where everyone would smile and greet her as a friend, happy and full of life and hope.

Before she even realized it, Uma was reaching out, her hand grasping for the warm light surrounding Auradon, wanting to be part of it. A buzzing tingle raised the hairs on her arm just as her palm pressed against the barrier and a red-hot searing pain shot up to her shoulder. Uma yelped and yanked her arm back against her chest, plunging her scorched hand into the cold water. Once the burning had subsided, Uma looked at her palm, surprised that except for a definite redness there was no other mark. She'd seen people's skin burned straight down to the bone after being thrown into the barrier before and she'd never gotten this close without being blistered.

Curious, Uma slowly stuck her hand out once again, this time bracing for the pain. It certainly didn't feel good, and she wouldn't be fool enough to touch it until she hurt herself much worse but it was bearable. Trying a tentacle under the water this time, Uma pushed harder against the sizzling heat, the cold helping to ease the pain almost immediately. She made it nearly an inch past the edge of the barrier before pulling back. Her tentacle was burning fiercely, the flesh bubbled and blistered slightly but still whole. Somehow the barrier had weakened, and Uma wanted to shout for joy.

Glancing back at the island, Uma gave a thought to Harry, she'd promised she'd be right back but if she went now she didn't know when she'd get another chance like this. Auradon and freedom were so close, she couldn't give up. Pushing herself backward in the water, Uma took a deep breath and dove under. With the most powerful thrust of her tentacles she could manage, she threw her arms up and shoved as hard as she could against the barrier. Her palms screamed in pain, her skin burned until blisters burst along her arms but she continued to fight forward, she thrashed at the water until waves broke the surface but inch by inch she moved through it. Uma's sensitive octopus-like skin blackened and shriveled as she screamed in agony, clawing at the water, desperate to free herself. When the last bit of her was through the barrier, she used the last ounce of her strength to surge for the water's surface and take a much-needed gasp of fresh air. The salt water stung like a million jellyfish and Uma sobbed in pain, her entire body shaking in fatigue. Every inch of her was bright red, the skin peeling away in strips of charred flesh, her tentacles were curled up like dead seaweed and she floated gasping in unbelievable pain.

Looking to her right, Uma once again saw Auradon, clearer now that she was through the barrier and that much closer. She had to keep going, there was no way she could make it back now, it would probably kill her, hopefully, she could ride the current in most of the way or catch a passing boat.


	3. Hide and Seek

Chapter 3:

Carlos suddenly turned over on his side, his eyes wide as a thought struck him.

"If they get through, all the villains are going to come here, right?"

Jay's brows scrunched down. "I guess, I mean the king and queen are here and they've got a pretty big grudge against them for sticking them on the island."

"And they'd probably be working together, right? They'd be a lot stronger if they teamed up, and all attacked Auradon at once."

Jay propped himself up on his elbow, really not liking where Carlos' mind was going. "Ok, spit it out already dude."

Carlos nodded, "Once that barrier comes down Jay, our parents and the rest of the villains will be able to use magic again and if they come to Auradon first they'll be able to get their most powerful weapons back too."

Jay's face paled at the thought, Auradon's museum was filled with the most powerful artifacts from those villains. If his father managed to get his hands back on his staff, there wouldn't be anyone left in the entire kingdom who wouldn't be under his hypnosis. And it wouldn't take much for a hypnotized king and queen to eat a few of the Evil Queen's poisoned apples and never wake up again.

"We need to tell Ben," Jay blurted as he leaped to his feet in a mad scramble.

Carlos jumped up after him and the two tore off across the campus to Mal and Evie's dorm room.

Throwing open the door, Jay stumbled to a halt, Tourney equipment clattering loudly to the floor just as Carlos barreled into the back of him causing both boys to crash on top of the gear in a jumbled heap.

Shocked cries of surprise and alarm rang out from the group in the room as Ben, Mal and Lonnie all grabbed a flailing limb and attempted to help Jay and Carlos up from the floor. Ben managed to dodge a Tourney stick just to have it collide into the side of Carlos' head, and the boy gave an offended yelp. Jay managed to roll off the pile of gear, dislodging Carlos from where he was sprawled on his back, barely catching his friend before he face planted into Lonnie's lap.

"What in the world were you guys doing?" Mal asked, glancing between the scattered Tourney sticks, balls, and padding to the boys who were panting raggedly on the floor.

"Practicing," Jay huffed breathlessly.

Mal raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Uh huh, and you?"

Carlos cracked open an eye. "Walking Dude."

Everyone looked around the room, Dude was suspiciously missing.

Mal's head cocked to the side and her glare increased. "Then why did you come crashing through our door?"

"Carlos thought of something," Jay replied, throwing out a hand to get the boy's attention, nearly smacking him in the face.

Carlos swatted Jay's hand away and struggled to sit up.

"Do not drag it out this time," Jay warned, as Mal's gaze narrowed on Carlos.

"Right, well if the barrier comes down and all the villains come here then they'll all be able to get their weapons back. Without Fairy Godmother's magic keeping them dormant, there won't be anything to stop the villains from using them."

"I haven't been in the museum in a while, but I'm willing to bet just a few of those used together would take down Auradon pretty quick. My dad's staff, the Evil Queen's poisoned apples, Maleficent's spell book..." Jay trailed off meaningfully.

Everyone in the room exchanged looks as the thought sunk in, Mal's arms fell to her sides and she sat down heavily on the edge of her bed.

"There are a lot of very powerful items in that museum, not just the villain's weapons. King Triton's Trident, the Sorcerer's Hat and the magic lamp," Ben said, feeling a heavy sense of dread settled over him.

Jay's head shot up from the floor. "Aladdin's magic lamp is in there?"

Ben nodded, "It's empty now, Aladdin set the genie free."

Jay groaned, "Magical items always have a little left over, even if they haven't been used for decades. If my dad gets a hold of that he'll figure out a way to wish for a genie again."

"Maybe we can stop them before they even get here," Carlos said suddenly.

Everyone's eyes snapped to him in attention, even Jay looked up from his prone position on the floor.

"If Fairy Godmother's magic fails, it won't take long before the villains realize and start heading to Auradon. They haven't used their magic since before we were born and some of them are so old they probably couldn't even remember the simplest spell in their books. If we destroy every single item in that museum then there won't be anything left of their magic."

"Destroy them all?" Lonnie asked.

Everyone looked at Ben.

"Is it even possible?" Mal asked him.

Ben bit his lip in thought, "I don't know, we've never tried to destroy any of them before."

"Can't we just move them? Like to a better vault or something where no one would find them?" Doug asked.

"If the villains make it off the island, I doubt there is a safe enough place anywhere in the world. I know I'm king now, but I need to talk to Fairy Godmother and my father and see what they have to say about it," Ben said, climbing to his feet. "In any case, it's getting really late and we should all get to bed. I should have some more answers tomorrow for everyone and we'll be able to figure out a better plan. But in the meantime, Carlos do you have Jane's number?"

Carlos paused for a moment, caught off guard by the question. "Ya, do you need it?"

"No, but I think with everything that's been going on it'd be a really nice thing for you to call her. She doesn't really have many friends here and she hasn't left her mom's side since she started getting sick," Ben replied.

Carlos' shoulders drooped, he and Jane haven't spoken much in the last few weeks. They had attempted a relationship right after he had summoned the courage to ask her to the Cotillion and afterward, Carlos had asked all his friends for advice on where to take her on the best dates to really impress her. However, with Jane's extremely busy schedule, Carlos was always taking a backseat and after the fourth rain checked date in a row he decided to let it drop. He'd hoped perhaps Jane would come looking for him once he stopped chasing her around but she hadn't even attempted to seek him out or return any of his texts. His first attempt at a girlfriend and he felt like it had been a total failure, it didn't exactly inspire confidence in him.

An arm suddenly dropped across his shoulders and he was yanked into Jay's side. "Come on bud, time for sleep."

Carlos nodded absently and helped collect all the Tourney gear as they trudged back to their room a few doors down the hall. The room fell into a heavy silence, both boys lost in their thoughts as they collapsed onto their own beds. Carlos glanced across the room at Jay, the other boy was sitting with his knees pulled up against his chest picking mindlessly at his fingernails. He didn't know what to do to break the tension, usually making witty one-liners was Jay's forte and between the sickening thought of his mother coming to Auradon, Fairy Godmother's illness and now having to contact Jane his brain felt like it had short-circuited.

"So you gonna call her or what?" Jay asked.

"Uh..." Carlos replied.

"I can't believe you haven't already, your girlfriend's mom's dying and you're staring at your phone like it's gonna bite your face off."

Carlos stupidly looked down at his phone again, almost expecting to see a mouth full of pointed teeth appear. "I don't think she's my girlfriend anymore, or if one dance even made her that in the first place."

Jay groaned dramatically at Carlos' pathetic grumbling and stalked across the room. He grabbed the other boy's phone, scrolled quickly through the five names in his contact list and hit Jane's number before Carlos could do more than squawk in protest.

"You can thank me later," Jay whispered.

"Hello?" Jane answered.

"Jane! Hi, I just wanted to see how you were doing," Carlos yelped, half hoping it had gone to voicemail.

"Carlos? Oh hello, I'm fine. I mean I guess I've been better, you know with my mom being sick and all. It's really nice that you called, nobody's called me all week. I suppose they haven't wanted to bother me, but it would have been okay. All I've been doing all week is sitting here while doctors talk to my mom, or poke and prod her, they barely even look at me, so I've had to ask like a million times what's going on. I've felt so stupid, there's nothing I can do, but I'm her daughter, so I feel like I should be doing something and isn't that what everyone is expecting of me? Gosh, I'm so useless, just sitting here crying all the time," Jane rambled miserably.

Carlos had forgotten how overwhelming it could be listening to Jane, massive verbal overload and he wasn't sure what to respond to first.

"Ya we all heard today, I'm so sorry she's sick. The whole school is cheering for her though, and Ben said they're going to do everything to help her get better. I'm sure someone would have called before if anyone knew what was going on. It doesn't sound like there's much you can do for her right now, though I'm sure she appreciates you being there with her," Carlos replied, hoping he sounded halfway convincing.

"Aw, you're so sweet to say so, Carlos. You really are one of the nicest people I've ever met before. I'm so lucky that you asked me to the Cotillion, I thought for sure I was going to go alone again and have to sit through Audrey laughing at me," Jane said.

Carlos nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him. "Yeah, of course, I was just glad you said yes."

"It was so much fun dancing with you, I've never had that much fun at a dance before, mostly because nobody's ever asked me. I'm really sorry we had to cancel all our dates, I just couldn't reschedule all the things I was doing, most of them were for the student council and my mom. I heard they canceled all classes at school and some of the students might be going home, is that true?"

"Uh, yeah me too, maybe we can try again sometime. Just, for now, everyone's really worried about your mom," Carlos said lamely.

"Oh, my mom needs me, I'll talk to you later ok Carlos?"

"Yeah, sure, talk to you later."

Carlos hit the end button, feeling like he'd just been steamrolled.

"Good grief, that was the most painful thing I've ever had to listen to," Jay moaned next to him.

Carlos sighed heavily and set his phone down on his nightstand. "Well, no one asked you to listen."

"Carlos seriously, I do not think I could handle being her boyfriend if I had to listen to that day after day. What are her text messages like?" Jay asked.

Carlos glared at his friend and shoved an elbow into his side. "Just because your brain can't keep up with more than one sentence at a time, doesn't mean everyone else is that slow. Jane is really smart and has a lot to say but nobody really listens to her or asks for her opinion."

"That's obvious, but how do you get her to stop?" Jay teased.

Carlos growled and got up off the bed to pace restlessly around the room. "Just knock it off Jay, she was the only girl who said yes when I asked her to the Cotillion. Everyone else was either taken or drooling over you and wouldn't give me the time of day. At least I can hold an intelligent conversation with Jane, she doesn't gush over stupid things like dresses and shoes."

"Hey, it's not my fault the girls love me and Evie would resent that, most girls can't keep up with her fashion sense," Jay protested, smirking and flexing his biceps.

"Ug, stop preening! I'm not going to fall all over myself just because you're wearing a sleeveless t-shirt," Carlos said.

"Maybe if you wore something like this you would have gotten more invites to the Cotillion; or at least kept Jane's attention," Jay teased, seeing the fury building in Carlos. Normally it was almost impossible to get him riled up, the other boy was either very even-tempered or nearly melancholy.

Carlos felt the jab like a bucket of cold water over his head, instantly chilling him to the core. He knew he had nothing on Jay as far as looks, he was shorter, skinnier and frailer. He'd compared himself to his best friend way too many times over the years to not have noticed and now it was being shoved in his face. Carlos hadn't bulked up like Jay had when they started playing Tourney, in fact, he'd lost even more weight due to all the running and mandatory training. When he'd noticed he'd finally gained a few inches in height, the elation was quickly lost when he realized so had Jay. Having Jane notice him had been his redemption, his validation after years of feeling inadequate but now even that was lost.

Waiting for Carlos' response, Jay's eyes widened as his friend's whole posture sunk and his face clouded over and shut down. Swearing softly under his breath at his own stupidity he quickly crossed the room to where Carlos stood staring blankly at his desk.

"Carlos I'm sorry, that was stupid. You didn't do anything wrong and if Jane keeps blowing you off then she doesn't deserve you. The other girls aren't that great anyhow, why do you think I never date any of them?" Jay said, his voice soft and pleading.

"Doesn't matter, what do we isle kids know about dating anyway? Nobody's gonna love us, they barely even trust us," Carlos muttered dejectedly.

Jay's jaw clenched tightly, he put a hand on Carlos' shoulder and spun him around. "Who the hell cares about a bunch of stuck up Auradon Prep snobs? We're not gonna be stuck in this school forever, and they're the only people who know who we are. Once we're out of here we can live our lives however we want, nobody is going to judge us and someday someone is going to fall head over heels for you."

Carlos' frown quirked up at the edge a bit, "Wow motivational and more than one sentence."

Jay sighed heavily, the tension in his shoulders evaporating. They didn't usually talk about heavy subjects like the way they were raised and the effects it had on them, they knew each other's deepest, darkest secrets and it was just too painful to keep bringing up. They were raised on hate, anger, revenge, selfish pursuits and evil intentions, love was a foreign and scary concept. On the Island whenever one would ask their parent about love it was scorned and scoffed at. It was something to despise, it would weaken you to your enemies and leave you vulnerable to a kind of pain few ever recovered from.

If Jay was honest with himself it still confused and scared him, he wasn't sure he ever wanted to fall in love. It seemed to put Mal through a hellacious sort of torture this past year, keeping her swinging from blissfully happy, to a scared, anxious wreck, to breathing hellfire at anyone in her path and then down a spiraling chasm of depression and back again. Her sudden departure back to the Island and revision of 'Evil Mal' had cemented it in Jay's mind that love was insane and would break even the strongest willed person.

"It's totally your fault anyway," Jay groused, earning a very confused look from Carlos. "You're my brain, and with you distracted by Jane I can't be held responsible for the stupid stuff I say."

Carlos' jaw dropped in shock and Jay immediately started howling with laughter at the look on his friend's face. Jay ducked a badly aimed punch to his shoulder and scrambled across the room as Carlos started chucking everything within arm's reach at the boy who was nearly bent over double in hysterics. 


	4. Calamari

Chapter 4:

The next day dawned much too early and brightly for some of Auradon's residents, namely the two who were curled up trying to get some sleep after pulling an all-night video game marathon. Someone knocking on their door was ignored by both boys until Dude starting whining from his spot at the end of Carlos' bed.

"What?!" Jay demanded irritably, curling the blanket around his shoulders tighter.

The door opened and Ben stuck his head inside, "Good morning guys, I was heading down for breakfast, you want to come?"

Silence was his only answer, so Ben walked further into the room. "Jay, Carlos?" Glancing around the room, he saw discarded Tourney gear mixed in with a few abandoned jackets, beanies hanging off bed knobs, desks covered in workbooks, papers and pens and a jumble of video game controller cords strung from the tv across the room to the end of a bed. To his right, Jay's bed appeared to be empty, while in front of him Carlos's bed had a few human-shaped lumps on it.

Carefully maneuvering through the labyrinth across the floor, Ben made it to the bed unscathed and smiled at the sight. Carlos was sleeping on his stomach, his head at the foot of the bed, one arm flung over Dude's back, his hand dangling over the edge of the bed, while Jay was curled up on his side at the head of the bed, using the other boy's calves as a pillow, while his long legs hung off the bed.

"So what time did you actually go to sleep?" Ben asked, poking Jay's shoulder.

Bloodshot eyes blinked at him, before shutting again. "Dunno had to beat Carlos at racing."

Ben just chuckled, he'd never met anyone besides Chad who was more competitive when it came to video games. He supposed part of it was because there wasn't even tv on the island let alone video games and they'd found out pretty quickly that while Jay was ruthless when it came to sports or fighting type games, Carlos dominated at racing games. Ben had orchestrated several guy's nights dedicated to junk food and video game marathons, which always came down to a near standoff between Jay and Carlos; neither giving up until one had to admit defeat due to hand cramps and eye strain.

"And how did that go?" Ben asked.

"Controller wasn't working, think it's broken," Jay muttered.

"Only cos you threw it at the wall," Carlos yawned, the talking finally rousing him.

"Still beat you five games before that," Jay argued.

"That's because you know all the combo moves already, you know I hate fighting games," Carlos quipped.

"I asked you last week if you wanted to learn the ones for the character you were leveling, but you were too busy doing something on your computer," Jay said.

Carlos groaned and buried his face back into the bed, while Ben started laughing. He'd never seen anyone bicker and tease each other so much and not for enemies, but Jay and Carlos would sit for hours and bounce insults at each other like he'd play tennis. Watching their verbal matches was much more entertaining, however.

"So guys, breakfast? My father and I are meeting Fairy Godmother this afternoon so I was thinking we could discuss options once I get back," Ben said.

Carlos sat up, stretching his arms above his head until his back popped and tried wiggling his legs that were trapped underneath Jay's head. "Jay you've got to move, I think my legs are asleep."

Jay grumbled and rolled over, pitching off the side of the bed to land in a heap of blankets on the floor. "Alright! Fine, I'm up!" Jay stood abruptly, looking exhausted and tossed his armful of blankets back onto the bed. "Shower's mine!"

Carlos's eyes snapped wide and he scrambled to get off the bed, with his legs asleep it was more of a stiff-legged stumble and he reached out to break his fall just as Ben reached out to catch him. Both boys wound up in a jumble of limbs on the floor, Ben breaking out into gales of laughter at Carlos' mussed bed head and ridiculous pout.

Jay rolled his eyes at his giggling friends and grabbed one of each of their hands to help them up. Ben stepped back as Jay slung Carlos' arm over his shoulders, the blonde's knees tingling painfully as blood flow returned. "We'll meet you downstairs, gotta make sure Carlos can stand on his own or this idiot will drown in the shower."

"Hey! You're the one who slept on my legs," Carlos replied indignantly, while Jay helped him hobble towards the bathroom.

Ben left with a smile, always glad to start his day enjoying his friend's antics. Crossing the courtyard from the dorm rooms to the dining hall, he looked across the way out to the Island of the Lost. It was such a depressing sight, a gray, desolate chunk of land filled with the worst people imaginable. It made Ben even more determined to rescue as many of the innocent children trapped there, so they could experience the joys of life instead of the cruelty their parents wrought.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing on the walkway, staring at the crashing waves, but seeing a large piece of debris being launched from one of them with a body wrapped around it broke him from his daze. Running down the flight of steps to a lower balcony that overhung the edge of a cliff, Ben bent over the railing as far as he could to watch as the person was washed onto the beach below. Fearing the person had drowned, Ben waved down several passing guards and pointed to the beach instructing them to help. Four men raced towards the nearest stairway that led down to the beach while two more went to find medical aid. Ben chased after the ones headed to the beach, hoping that they weren't too late.

Uma shuddered violently and spat a mouthful of seawater onto the gritty sand beneath her, her body shivered as the cool air raised goose bumps across her tender burned skin but a gleeful grin cracked her chapped lips as she realized she'd finally made it to land. She'd just shut her eyes when she heard shouts and the muffled pounding of feet against sand, and she rolled her head to the right to watch as uniformed Auradon guards raced up to her. One guard quickly knelt down and began checking her pulse and eyes, asking her if she was alright and where she had come from. Suddenly, another guard grabbed his shoulder and hauled him backward, frantically pointing below Uma's waist at the still visible tentacles.

Ben rushed up to the huddled group of guards, not sure why they were ten feet away from the person laying on the sand and worrying that perhaps they were too late to save them.

"Your highness you mustn't go any further, the sea witch has made it to our shores. We'll go get more help to capture her immediately," one of the guards said.

Ben craned his neck to see around the guards, then took several steps forward, much to the guard's protests. Recognition dawned on him, as the small frame and a multitude of blue-tinted braids became visible. "It's not the sea witch, it's Uma. She's a friend and she's hurt, send for medical aid now!"

The guards looked uneasily from the unmoving girl to their king several times before one raced back across the beach to do as he was bid. Ben knelt down next to Uma and gently took her hand, noticing the angry red burns covering her body.

"Uma, what happened? How did you get here?" Ben asked quietly.

Uma croaked out a laugh, "Apparently you're the barrier is getting weaker. Not by much of course, but I am here so..."

"I can see that, should I be expecting any more visitors?" Ben asked.

Uma shook her head from side to side, her eyes closing. "Harry was waiting for me, hope he doesn't try to sail a boat through or something stupid like that."

Ben looked at Uma's body, her tentacles were in the worst shape, black and charred while the rest was blistered and raw. "Well it looks like you might be here for awhile until you heal, should I send for Harry?"

Uma's eyes snapped open at the offer, not sure what the catch was to it.

Ben could clearly read the mistrust in those flashing orbs and sighed heavily, it was like starting all over with Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. At least he had some experience to draw from now and understood Uma would have some serious trust issues to get over. "You're welcome here in Auradon Uma, but I know how different it is here from the island and if you would feel more comfortable with a friend then I'll gladly extend an invite to Harry."

"And once he gets here? Are you going to lock us both in a dungeon for breaking out?" Uma asked snidely.

Ben laughed at the absurdity, "Of course not! You're my personal guests, you'll probably need to stay at the medical facility until you're healed but as long as Harry isn't planning on overthrowing the school then you'll both have your own rooms."

"What happens once I'm healed? You'll escort us back to the island?" Uma asked.

"Not unless that's where you want to go, and considering our last brief encounter I'm going to assume that you nearly burning yourself to death trying to get through the barrier is a good indicator that you're ready to give it a try here," Ben said.

"I really don't know if I'm cut out to go to a prep school and act all goody-goody," Uma whispered, avoiding Ben's gaze.

"Nobody expects you to change overnight, and nobody is going to force you to do anything you don't want to do," Ben assured.

Uma still looked very doubtful but she wasn't exactly in a position to argue, she couldn't feel anything below her waist which worried her much more than she was going to admit and the idea of having Harry with her while she was so vulnerable made the tension in her chest ease slightly. "Alright, as long as you promise you won't go back on your word."

"I, King Ben, promise that you will be well cared for and treated like a princess for as long as you choose to stay in Auradon," Ben swore, holding a hand to his heart as if stating a royal decree.

Several medical aids showed up with a stretcher and Ben waved them forward so they could lift Uma onto it. He quickly grabbed her hand back up when he noticed her try to lash out at one of the aids who looped a band around her waist to keep her on the stretcher.

"It's okay, it's just so you don't fall off. We've got to get you up several flights of stairs and the ride can be a bit bumpy," Ben said, pointing to the way they had all come.

Uma glared threateningly at the aids but settled down and let them strap her securely to the stretcher and begin their long walk.

To keep the tension down, Ben started telling Uma all about the school and all its amenities and what she might like to see and do once she was feeling better. He was very curious as to why Uma had forced herself through the barrier and if anyone besides her and Harry knew about it's apparent weakening.

Just as they reached the top of the winding staircase, Ben's father pushed through a crowd of students who had noticed that something interesting had been going on down at the beach and rushed to see what was happening.

"Ben, we're extremely late meeting Fairy Godmother, what in the world is going on?"

Ben gave a sheepish smile, "Father, meet Uma, she's going to be staying with us for awhile."

Ben's father gave Uma a startled look, before composing himself and giving a bow of his head. "Welcome to Auradon Miss Uma, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Uma's been injured and will be requiring medical aid, I'll explain everything later father," Ben said, giving the guards and students surrounding them a pointed look.

Ben's father nodded tersely and continued to follow everyone into the medical building. Soon Uma was settled into a comfortable bed and the nurses began to fuss over her while the doctors began their exam. Uma clenched Ben's hand nervously, not sure what to expect with the multitude of people suddenly surrounding her and rapidly firing questions at her.

"Just take a deep breath and relax, nobody here is going to hurt you. The nurses in the white uniforms are going to get you anything you need, water, food, more blankets or pillows. The doctors are going to try to figure out the best way to get you better, so they need to know as much about you as possible," Ben said.

"Indeed, can't say we've had many cases quite like yours young lady," one doctor added, a fairly young man, long waist length blonde hair, fair skin and a pair of small round silver glasses perched on his straight nose.

"I don't normally have these, I can transform legs but I think they're too badly burned right now," Uma said, gesturing towards her tentacles.

"Have you ever been burned before? I can't say my knowledge of sea creatures is too extensive but if memory serves me right if an octopus loses a tentacle they usually grow back, correct?" the dr asked.

"I've never been burned like this, and yes they will grow back if I lose them but they're still there," Uma replied.

"May I?" the dr asked, stopping short of touching Uma.

Uma nodded and relaxed slightly when she realized she couldn't feel his hands.

"Can't feel that, can you?" the dr guessed, as he increased the pressure of his hands until he was sure she should have been shouting in pain.

Uma shook her head no.

"Well, we have a few options then, we can treat this like any other burn and wrap your tentacles in a healing salve and hope there is some flesh left underneath to heal, we could amputate and remove all the burned flesh and perhaps your tentacles will grow back or we could consult with the fairies and see if they have any magic to reverse the burns effects," the Dr said.

"Do you think any of those are going to work?" Uma asked.

"Honestly I have no idea since there is no pain I would suggest going the least drastic course of action first, we wrap them and consult the fairies. If neither of those pan out we can revisit the amputation option as a last resort."

"All I wanted to do was get off that horrible island, stop having to mop floors and serve fried fish," Uma muttered, giving a self-deprecating scoff.

"Hey, don't get so discouraged now. You did manage to get away, you're here now and you can have someone else serve you fried fish," Ben said, giving Uma's hand a gentle squeeze.

"If I ever see fried fish or french fries again it'll be too soon. Ok, doc let's get this torture session over with already," Uma sighed.

The Dr laughed gently, "I promise it won't be that bad, it's an herbal wrap so at the very most it might be slightly chilly but the nurses will bring you as many heated blankets as you want."

Ben smiled encouragingly as the doctor began mixing the salve together in a large basin, dipping long strips of gauze into it and then gently wrapping each tentacle, working his way up until he finished off with Uma's arms and a few spots on her face and neck.

"I feel like a seaweed-wrapped appetizer, but at least it doesn't smell as bad," Uma commented, giving herself a once over look.

"The bandages will need to be replaced every morning, and if you notice any itching, burning or pain let one of the nurses know immediately so we can check. None of the burns look infected, the ocean's salt water would have helped with that quite a bit but we still have to keep an eye on them," the Dr said.

"Okay, thanks," Uma replied.

"Well now that you're in good hands, I've got a very important meeting to attend and I've got to send someone to get Harry. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Ben asked, standing up from his seat beside Uma's bed.

"No, I'm good but before I completely forget again there's a reason why I forced my way through the barrier and we really need to talk about it," Uma replied, lowering her voice and glancing around to make sure nobody else was close.

Ben knelt closer to the bed, "I already know and we're working on fixing it, I'm afraid you didn't come at a very good time. If the villains managed to escape from the island, I don't know if you'll be safe here. As soon as I know more I'll let you know, for now just get some rest so you can heal."

With that Ben quickly spun on his boot heel and strode out of the medical building, waving at Jay and Carlos who were coming out of the dining hall before jumping into a waiting carriage. As glad as he was that the barrier hadn't completely failed yet, it was clearly just a matter of time now and Carlos' warning about the artifacts rang loudly in the back of his mind. There just simply wasn't a contingency plan in case the barrier failed, and as acting king, Ben wasn't sure he was up to the task.

Harry paced outside Ursula's fish and chips shop restlessly, Uma had set off the night before and he'd expected her to come back within a few hours grumbling about idiot fishermen who couldn't tell a wave from a whale and that there was absolutely no way to get through the barrier. He'd watched Uma swim away until he'd lost sight of her and then sat on the edge of the dock until it started to rain. Gil had roused him sometime the next morning, where Harry had taken shelter against a wall in a nearby alleyway but Uma still hadn't come back. He'd told Gil to mind the shop, serve the customers and tell Ursula that Uma was getting supplies and would be back later but now it was later, nearly dusk and still no sight of Uma.

"Harry, it's getting really busy, help!" Gil pleaded from the shop's swinging doors, flinching as a plate sailed over his head to crash against a dock piling.

Harry grimaced and stormed past the other boy, taking in the ruckus that the customers had started. "Everyone shut up! If I see one more plate get broken I'm gonna kick you all out!"

Uplifted chairs were slowly put back on the floor, and plates were carefully set back onto tables while Gil quickly rushed around to serve up more food. Looking over the mess, Harry suddenly understood Uma's hatred of her life. He was pretty much free to come and go as he pleased, his father was dead, he had nobody to tell him what to do or responsibilities to tie him down. Harry had met Uma and Gil years earlier and when offered as much fish and chips as he could eat if he'd help clean up the shop it had seemed like a pretty sweet deal. Now he chose more often than not to help Uma at the shop simply because he had nowhere else to go and Gil hung around because the two of them were the only people on the entire island who could stand the blonde for longer than 2 seconds. But Uma was right, their lives were going nowhere fast and Harry's dream of getting The Jolly Roger up and sailing again was never going to happen.

Harry had sent Gil home shortly after sundown when he'd noticed the boy falling asleep while leaning against a mop but he was hesitant to go too far in case Uma came back. Just as he was putting away the last of the clean plates and silverware, a pair of Auradon guards came into the shop and Harry tensed nervously.

"Harry Hook, your presence has been requested by King Benjamin of Auradon."

Harry stood dumbstruck for a moment, not sure what that meant.

"His Highness said a mutual friend was in need of your assistance at Auradon Prep and we were to escort you there immediately."

"Friend? Uma!" Harry said, realization dawning on him. She must have made it through then, it was the only explanation as to why she'd been gone so long, and somehow she'd convinced Ben to come get him as well. Leaving a short note for Ursula, about both he and Uma being recruited for Auradon Prep he quickly followed the guards to a shiny black limo sitting outside on the dock. For a moment Harry hesitated before climbing into the sleek car, he was about to leave everything he'd ever known behind him and even if that wasn't much to brag about it was familiar, whereas Auradon was completely foreign and possibly hostile territory. Biting his lip and hoping Uma hadn't been bewitched by some spell already, Harry slid onto the soft, black leather seats and white-knuckled the door handle all the way across the golden bridge.

 


	5. Fairy Freakouts

Chapter 5:

Ben and his father arrived at Fairy Godmother's sprawling English cottage on the outskirts of Auradon, a winding dirt path brought their car to a waist-high fence covered in delicate pink climbing rose bushes and a short walk up a stone pathway took them to the cottage's front door that was covered in a high archway dripping with bright purple Wisteria. Butterflies and birds flittered from colorful blooms and massive willows surrounding the adorable home.

Jane answered the door, looking tired but offering a kind smile as she led them into her mother's bedroom. She quickly excused herself to prepare refreshments and snacks for their visitors even though Ben insisted it wasn't necessary.

"I apologize for not being able to meet you elsewhere but I'm afraid I'm much too weak at the moment to move," Fairy Godmother said, gesturing to a small chair in the corner of the room and a footstool.

The two men carefully seated themselves, "It's really no trouble at all Fairy Godmother, our concern is about you. Have any of the other fairies come up with any new ideas about your condition."

Fairy Godmother looked hesitant for a moment, "In fact, I just saw one of the most senior Fairies this morning. She rarely comes out of retirement anymore, she's well over five-hundred years old now, though I swear she doesn't look a day over two-hundred."

Ben and his father chuckled at the mild joke, sincerely hoping she'd get to the point soon.

"It's really only a theory you see, even as knowledgeable as she is, Fairy Ida said it's a very rare thing. She's only heard of it happening, it's not documented anywhere. Typically, girls are chosen at a very young age to receive the gift of being a fairy, because their hearts and minds are pure and they show a want to help others above all else. I was chosen when I was merely ten years old, after helping a toad receive a kiss from a very reluctant princess. Afterward, I was taken to a special school where I learned how to become a fairy godmother, was given my very own wand and told someday I would get the chance to help someone and change their destiny. Now however instead of choosing a successor the usual way, which honestly I hadn't given much thought to, I have to pass my powers down to my daughter. Fairies rarely become involved much with humans, except to help them of course, but once our jobs are finished we leave. I'm afraid I fell in love with a human and although I would have gladly stayed with him forever, I was needed by others and I had to go. Once my duties were done, I searched high and low for him, but I could never find him and then I learned I was pregnant. So now it's Jane's turn, tomorrow the fairies will help me perform a ceremony that will transfer all my powers to her."

Ben and his father sat shell-shocked for a moment. "Is Jane ready for such a responsibility?"

"She'll have to be if I don't give her my powers they will slowly fade away and me with them," Fairy Godmother said.

"What about the spells you've cast? The barrier surrounding The Island of the Lost?" Ben asked.

"I really don't know, the magic changes from person to person depending on their hearts. If Jane doubts herself, if she wavers even for a moment she could possibly undo everything," Fairy Godmother replied.

The sound of a platter and china teacups crashing to the stone floor made everyone jump, Jane standing in the doorway, her hands shaking, eyes wide and terrified.

"I don't want to become a fairy godmother, I'll ruin everything!" Jane shouted, fleeing from the house.

Ben leaped up to go after her but stopped short at Fairy Godmother's call.

"Ben please help her, Jane has to see how important this is. I don't care about myself, but I've got dozens of spells all around Auradon that are protecting people, and if the villains are set free it'll doom everyone."

Luckily for him, Jane hadn't gone too far, she was sitting on a swing suspended high above from the sturdy branches of an oak tree. "You'd better hold on tight, future fairy."

Jane squeaked in surprise as Ben's hands pushed her back and propelled her and the swing forward. She hadn't been on this old swing in years and she clenched her eyes shut, clinging to the ropes for dear life. As the wind brushed through her hair, sweeping it across her face a smile blossomed on her lips and a giggle burst from her mouth. Ben continued to push her, as she soared into the sky higher and higher each time, she finally opened her eyes remembering this feeling of freedom and wishing she could reach out and touch the topmost branches of the trees.

"She's wrong you know, you'd make a fantastic fairy godmother," Ben said, stepping back as Jane swung high over his head.

"But I don't have a pure heart like my mother. I'd never be able to cast the kind of spells she can," Jane protested.

"I think it's pretty pure, you stood up to Maleficent," Ben argued.

"I was so vain and shallow, all I could see was myself. I've even canceled on Carlos four times since the Cotillion, I can't believe he's even speaking to me," Jane said sadly.

As the swing slowed to a stop, Ben crouched down in front of Jane, trying to catch her downcast eyes. "Do you think Carlos and the other villain kids deserved a second chance?"

Jane's head came up, "Of course! They're nothing like their parents at all, Mal was willing to help me when I was so upset about Audrey making fun of how I looked, Jay is always making jokes so people laugh but their funny jokes, not mean ones and Carlos is so nice, nobody has ever asked me out before that."

Ben smiled at the conviction in the girl's voice, "What did your mother think when I announced it?"

Jane grimaced, "She thought you were crazy, she was sure it would end terribly. She even tried to talk your father out of it."

"Do you think I should let more kid's from the island come over to Auradon if they want? Do they deserve a second chance, or should we condemn them for their parent's crimes?" Ben asked.

"If they're anything like Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos then absolutely they should come over. I know how hard it can be living in your parent's shadow, you never feel like you measure up and like everyone is comparing you to them," Jane replied.

"See, you do want to help others, you do it all the time. How much of the student council do you oversee?" Ben asked.

"Almost all of it, Audrey thinks she's in charge, but I keep the scheduling, I get all the events set up, I handle the accounts so everything had the proper funding and I make sure everything fits within the school's guidelines so we don't get into trouble."

"And how about helping your mom? How much time do you spend there?"

"I'm pretty much her secretary, I run school appointed errands, pass messages along to teachers and school faculty, I even make sure there is plenty of coffee in the lounge."

Ben laughed, "I'm king and I'm not even that busy yet. It's no wonder you haven't had any time for dating, you help everyone else at the expense of your own happiness. If that's not a pure heart then I don't know what one is."

Jane blushed but couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at the compliment.

"Your mother said the ceremony isn't happening until tomorrow, so why don't we get back to Auradon Prep and you can finally have that date with Carlos?" Ben suggested.

Jane's mouth opened in a squeal of delight and she launched herself at Ben with a bear hug that sent both of them to the ground.

Carlos grabbed his cell off his desk when it chimed, surprised to see a text message from Ben.

(B): Got great news! A friend is coming over for dinner, get dressed!

Figuring it was about the meeting with Fairy Godmother, Carlos threw on a pair of his black skinny jeans that Evie had littered with shiny silver studs, chunky thick-soled boots that laced up to his calves, his favorite red long sleeved shirt and black and white leather vest, that had a ring of faux fur around the collar. His hair was still damp from the shower and Carlos stared into the bathroom mirror not sure whether to slick it back or brush the front down along the side of his face, but if he didn't make a choice soon the whole thing was going to start curling into the old ringlets that he despised. Plucking out a few choice pieces of jewelry, a wide black leather wrist cuff with white dog bones embroidered across it that Evie had made him and a few necklaces of different lengths he was about ready to go when Jay came through the door.

"Hey, Ben was looking for you, I told him I'd send you down. You going on a date?" Jay asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked Carlos over.

"No, I got a text from Ben about good news and dinner. Said he was bringing a friend too," Carlos replied, glancing at himself in the mirror once more.

"Why didn't I get an invite? Who's the friend?" Jay asked.

Carlos shrugged, wondering why Jay was suddenly sounding defensive. "Come on, if the news is about Fairy Godmother, don't you want to hear it too?"

Jay followed Carlos as they made their way out of the dorm room, surprised to see who was standing at the bottom of the stairs with Ben.

"It is a date, you liar. I thought you two broke up?" Jay whispered.

Carlos' eyes widened in surprise, he swallowed nervously as they got closer. He really hadn't thought Jane had been serious when she said she would like to give their botched dates another try sometime, but here she was, wearing a very pretty pale yellow sundress and a happy smile.

"Carlos, didn't Ben tell you I was coming?" Jane asked, glancing at his less than date-worthy clothing.

"Not exactly," Carlos muttered, plastering a smile on his face. "What about the big news?"

"Jane already knows, so she can fill you in over dinner while I tell everyone else," Ben replied, motioning towards his limo that was still parked at the curb. "Have a good night you two."

Carlos glanced back at Jay, his nerves practically screaming for an intervention but the other boy still had his arms crossed and was all but glaring at Jane. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous now when for the past month he'd all but begged Jane for a date, so he took Jane's outstretched hand and helped her into the car.


	6. Invitations To War

Chapter 6:

"Come on, I'll order some pizzas and we can talk about my meeting with Fairy Godmother. Let me give Mal a quick call so she can round up everyone else," Ben said, bumping his shoulder against Jay's.

Jay grunted, tearing his eyes away from the limo as he reluctantly followed Ben back into the dorm building. He knew Carlos was perfectly capable of taking care of himself and it wasn't like Jane was very threatening, but all Jay could think of was the complete look of loss that had come over Carlos' face when he'd teased him the other night about not keeping the girls' attention. He sincerely hoped Jane didn't botch this date, Jay didn't think he could handle seeing Carlos that hurt again.

"So get to it already, is Fairy Godmother gonna make it or do we prepare for war when the barrier comes down?" Jay snarked, plopping down on the floor near Mal's bed.

Everyone looked at Jay, surprised by his snarky attitude, but Ben just nodded. "Fairy Godmother should get better after tomorrow, she has to perform a ceremony to transfer her powers to Jane. As her daughter, when she became sixteen she was supposed to inherit her mother's abilities and start her training, but it hasn't happened in hundreds of years because fairies usually don't have children."

"But the spells Fairy Godmother cast, will they need to be re-cast by Jane?" Mal asked.

"We're hoping not, she won't be able to control all of the magic at first because she doesn't know how. But if Fairy Godmother doesn't transfer her power, it'll fade away and she'll die," Ben replied.

"Oh no, that's terrible. What did Jane think about all this?" Evie asked.

"She's scared, she knows how important her mother's magic is to Auradon, how it keeps us all safe and understandably she's worried she won't be able to keep the spells going," Ben said.

"Great, so our fate is in the hands of a pushover who's too scared to even stand up to Audrey. We might as well hand ourselves over to our parents now, maybe they'll have mercy on us," Jay said sarcastically.

"Jay, what is your damage? Since when do you have a thing against Jane?" Mal asked.

"Maybe he's jealous because Jane is out on a date with Carlos and Audrey didn't even call him after the coronation," Lonnie joked.

"She only danced with me because Ben blew her off for Mal, I was the rebound dude. I couldn't care less about Audrey, she's a total harpy," Jay argued.

Mal and Evie exchanged worried glances, unused to seeing Jay so clearly pissed off.

"Okay while I completely agree with Jay's assessment of Audrey, Ben was there anything else you wanted to tell us?" Mal interrupted, hoping to redirect the conversation.

"I do have one more thing to tell you guys, but you've all got to promise me that you won't overreact and give me a chance to explain," Ben said, looking around the room at everyone's expressions.

Everyone nodded their consent, Jay rolling his eyes and muttering a "whatever". "Like we feared, the barrier has weakened slightly. Enough in fact that one the island's residents got through, although the cost was quite high and they are currently undergoing severe burn treatments in the medical building. So clearly they are no threat to us, and I have their promise that they mean us no harm, they just wanted a better life."

"Who?" Lonnie asked impatiently.

"Uma, Ursula's daughter," Ben replied.

Mal looked confused her eyebrows narrowing together. "She broke through the barrier and nearly got burned to death because she wanted to be here in Auradon?"

"I know it sounds crazy, she wasn't exactly our biggest fan at the Cotillion but she was telling the truth when she told me she wanted what you guys had been given; a second chance, a better life," Ben said.

"So the little squid is laid up like a plate of calamari, why do we care?" Jay asked.

Ben sighed, hoping Jay's bad mood didn't spread to the rest of the group. "Because unless she chooses to go back to the island she'll become an Auradon Prep student and I was hoping that you guys would help me make her welcome. Not to mention if the barrier should come down, we're going to need all the help we can get."

"Well if we really are going to need more help, what about bringing more kids over from the island?" Doug asked, earning a squeal of excitement from Evie.

"I nominate Dizzy, Lady Tremaine's grand-daughter!" Evie cheered.

Mal smirked, "Then I nominate Freddie, Dr. Facilier's daughter."

"Okay, I see I'm going to need a list then. Evie, I know you had asked before at the Cotillion about bringing other kids over, I guess now is your chance, so I'm going to put you in charge of helping me organize this. Remember, try to think about kids who would really see this as an opportunity for a new life," Ben said.

Mal and Evie exchanged looks before Evie grabbed up a pen and paper and the two girls launched into a deep discussion about all the kids on the island they knew. Ben started doling out slices of pizzas and settled down in a chair backward, settling his chin on the backrest.

"So, you wanna talk about it?" Ben asked, nudging Jay's boot with his shoe.

Jay stuffed the end of his slice into his mouth, "Dunno what you're talking about."

Ben lowered his voice, "Are you really mad at Jane?"

Jay dropped his eyes to the carpet, he knew it wasn't fair to Jane, the poor girl had never had a boyfriend before and everyone knew how busy she always was; so it wasn't really fair to think she'd drop everything and run to Carlos every time he called. "I just don't want her to hurt Carlos."

"He's never had a girlfriend before, has he?" Ben guessed.

Jay shook his head, "He's always been too shy to make a move, he hates confrontations, especially with women; something his mother beat into him."

"Then it was pretty brave of him to ask Jane out, good for him. You know Jane doesn't exactly have a lot of experience with guys either, so this will probably be good for both of them," Ben said.

"How do you figure?" Jay asked.

"Mal told me you guys didn't really date on the island, it was more like gang activities which tells me that none of you are too familiar with dating and falling in love. If Carlos is ever really going to come out of his shell, then he needs to be confident in himself and know that there are other people who can and will love him," Ben explained.

The pizza seemed to turn to stone in Jay's stomach, Ben was right, Carlos had looked ecstatic when Jane had said yes to him, he'd smiled so much Jay was almost sure his face had frozen like that. The boy had been more animated and outgoing in everything he did afterward, he'd even raced Jay to Tourney practice, practically shouting with joy over a sport he'd sworn many times before he hated. It was the slowly dimming light in those bright eyes after every one of Jane's rejected dates that grated on Jay's nerves. "What if it doesn't work out and Carlos is even worse?"

Ben paused for a moment at the sudden question, Jay almost looked scared and he realized how bad the results could be for Carlos. "Breakups are never easy, but if the couple isn't making each other truly happy then it's really not worth dragging it out; it'll only hurt them both more in the end. No matter what happens Jay, we're all going to be there for him."

Jay still looked doubtful, but this was one of life's lessons that they all had to go through, it made him wonder if Jay had ever been in love.

Across the school, Harry was being escorted from the limo to the medical building. Everything was so much larger than he'd ever imagined that his neck was getting a kink and he felt completely overwhelmed. There weren't too many students out since night had fallen but looking around made him very self-conscious, he stuck out like a sore thumb here.

Following a nurse, Harry was led across a room lined on both sides by beds with privacy screens separating them. Most of the beds were empty, and any that were occupied were closed off, which piqued Harry's curiosity until the nurse stopped abruptly at a random screen.

"She's had a very long day and is probably quite tired, so please let her rest as much as possible. If there is anything I can get you, feel free to ask," the nurse curtsied and quietly walked away.

Harry stood staring blankly at the screen for a moment, before peeking around the edge. White gauze covered Uma from the tips of her tentacles all the way up to her throat, not a particularly good look for someone he was used to seeing in various shades of blues and greens. As silently as he could, Harry sat down in the empty chair beside Uma's bed, relieved to finally know she was okay while worried that she'd gotten so hurt.

"You should never have gone out there," Harry whispered.

Uma turned her head towards the deep baritone, "Never have to serve another fish stick as long as I live."

Harry chuckled and gently picked up Uma's hand, giving it a careful squeeze. "Now you just look like one. How are you going to set sail with me around the world looking for your perfect island if you can't even walk?"

"You'll just have to carry me on a big 'ol throne, encrusted with pearls and seashells," Uma replied, a smirk on her face.

"I suppose you'll be wanting a crown to go with that throne then?" Harry joked.

"Perhaps, I'll just stick in on my captain's hat," Uma teased.

"Your captain's hat? If we're sailing my ship, there's only going to be one captain," Harry said.

"Exactly, me!" Uma grinned.

The two continued on like that for a few minutes more until a nurse poked her head around the curtain. "Excuse me Miss Uma, you have visitors. Are you feeling up to more company?"

Uma glanced at Harry but he just shrugged having no clue who she was referring to. "Ya, send them on in."

"Good evening Uma, I'm sorry to drop by so late but I wanted to make sure Harry got here alright and you had mentioned wanting to speak to me before I had to leave," Ben said, coming around the curtain to stand at the foot of Uma's bed.

Uma blinked in surprise at seeing not only Ben but Jay, Mal, and Evie trailing behind him. "What are they doing here?"

"We're here to welcome you to Auradon Prep," Mal said, trying to seem sincere without biting her tongue off. Jay and Evie managed weak smiles and an even weaker wave of hello.

"Uh-huh, well I'm positively overwhelmed by your enthusiasm," Uma said sarcastically.

"Listen Uma, we've already promised to be on our best behavior and if you're really serious about starting over then I don't see why it can't start with us," Mal said, reaching out a hand.

"Seriously? You mean it? And not just because your boyfriend the king is standing right there?" Uma asked suspiciously, her hand raised halfway.

"Yes, seriously, I mean it. Things on the island were different, we weren't supposed to make friends. I'd really like that to change here, there are a lot of really good people in Auradon, people who make every day worth it," Mal replied, giving a genuine smile and glancing over at Ben who grinned back with pride.

"Alright then, here's to new beginnings," Uma nodded, reaching out and shaking Mal's hand.

The tension lessened considerably after that and everyone either settled on a nearby bed or grabbed a chair.

"Uma would you like to start us off by telling us how you found out the barrier was weakening?" Ben asked.

"Believe it or not, it was a fisherman who swore half his boat went through it and was making such a ruckus about it we had to threaten him before he'd shut up. We figured it was only a matter of time before he blabbed to someone else so I decided to swim out and see for myself. This, of course, is the result," Uma said, waving a hand across her body.

"As long as it doesn't get any weaker, I don't think anyone is going to push it that far, the fear of the barrier is pretty set in people's minds," Harry added.

"Maybe for the fishermen, but if any of our parents hear that it's weakened they're going to do everything in their power to break it completely," Mal said, shaking her head.

"Is it going to weaken more? Cause if that's the case then we're going to be in serious trouble," Uma asked.

"It shouldn't, we're pretty sure we've got it under control now, but if the worst happens having a backup plan probably isn't a bad idea," Ben said.

"I still say Carlos' idea is the best," Jay interrupted.

"I never got a chance to ask Fairy Godmother if the artifacts could be destroyed," Ben said, his shoulders slumping at the reminder.

"I'll text Carlos, maybe he's still with Jane," Mal suggested, pulling out her phone.

"Excuse me, but what are we talking about?" Uma asked, feeling completely out of the loop.

"After the villains got rounded up and Auradon was declared villain-free, some of the most powerful weapons and magical items were put into a museum here in Auradon. Jafar's staff, my mother's magic mirror, Triton's trident and even some poisoned apples. If our parents came here and got a hold of them..." Evie explained.

Uma's eyes widened, "They'd destroy everything, my mom's told me stories about that trident since I was a baby, it can control all the oceans, the weather and transform people into sea slugs. She'd sell her soul to get her hands on it again."

"Which is why Carlos suggested they all be destroyed," Mal said.

"Can you even do that? Why not use them yourselves?" Harry asked.

"I'd never considered it, it would put the power on our side," Ben said, looking at Mal.

"No, no way. I got plenty of use from my mother's old spell book, nothing good came of it. And even if I did use it, I don't have the kind of experience that our parents do, I'm not strong enough," Mal protested, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"My mother's magic mirror can show where things and people are but otherwise it's not very powerful and I'm not nearly as good at potions as she was," Evie added.

"Well don't look at me, I'm not touching my father's snake staff, Aladdin broke it once for good reason and I want it to stay that way," Jay said firmly.

Uma scowled, "They're right, I haven't practiced the dark arts like my mother has, I wouldn't have a clue how to work the Trident."

"Then we need reinforcements, Evie do you have that list of kids?" Ben asked. The blue haired girl smiled and handed him a long sheet of paper. "That's a lot of names, can you tell me who their parents are and what the question marks next to some of them are for?"

"I know, it's as many kids as Mal and I could think of, some of them we're sure would love it here but a few we don't know really well so they're question marks," Evie replied.

"Okay, what about Maverick?" Ben asked.

"No!" Uma exclaimed suddenly.

Harry started chuckling madly while Uma whacked him on the arm.

"Oh come on Uma, little Mav would be a great addition to our team," Harry said, wiping away tears of mirth.

"Absolutely not, if my aunt hadn't found us I would have dragged that urchin to the bottom of the sea and left him tied to a rock!" Uma growled.

"So I'm gonna guess that Maverick is your cousin?" Ben asked.

"Yes, my aunt Morgana's son, he's about three years younger than me and has done nothing but pester me non stop since he was born," Uma replied with an irritated huff.

"Funny thing though, Morgana is totally off her rocker but Maverick is about as sweet as a seal pup," Harry said, getting Ben to put a check mark next to his name.

"Alright, next we have Aliya?" Ben asked, getting blank stares from everyone but Mal and a groan of misery from Jay.

"You put her name down Mal? Are you trying to kill me?" Jay asked.

Mal snickered and shook her head. "Aliya is Abis Mal's daughter, he was one of Aladdin's rivals and always looked up to Jafar. Aliya isn't exactly evil, but she picked up the nasty habit of constantly laying traps and tricks for people from her father. Her favorite target has always been Jay."

"Oh no, she's definitely evil! The little brat has been torturing me since she could crawl, she'd purposefully get right behind me and trip me while I was walking. She'd pour oil all over the road for me to slip in, she'd throw rotten fish through my bedroom window while I was sleeping and pretend to be hurt in the middle of the marketplace so all the vendors would gang up on me," Jay complained.

"Well, she sounds like a hand full but she could be useful if we're fighting the villains," Ben said, trying to ignore Jay's agitated scowl. "Dizzy, is already a given, so then we're on to Hector?"

Everyone gave shrugs and shakes of their heads.

"I know he's the Queen of Heart's son, but I've only met him once before when my mother was invited for tea," Evie said.

"Maggie?"

"Mags? She's Madame Medusa's daughter, she and Carlos were friends, think their mothers knew each other or something," Jay said.

"Okay, I'll ask Carlos about her later then. What about Roxanne?" Ben asked.

"No way!" Both Jay and Evie yelped, earning looks of surprise from everyone else.

"Oh come on, nobody has a more devious mind than that girl, she's even put me to shame a few times," Mal said.

"She's completely psychotic, she makes Audrey look like Fairy Godmother," Jay shuddered.

"She found out Jay and I were friends and deliberately tried to sabotage me. She dumped buckets of mud and dirty water on me from windows, she stole my notebooks with all my designs and set them on fire and shoved me off the dock into a pile of rotten fish," Evie cried, her lower lip trembling as her eyes watered.

"You're right Evie, I'd totally forgotten about all that stuff. I just remember how big of a crush she had on Jay and I think she was a little jealous of how good you looked all the time," Mal said, handing Evie a tissue and patting her thigh.

"I doubt she'd be much help anyway, she's Governor Ratcliffe's baby girl, they're pretty tight," Jay said, prompting Ben to cross her name off.

"Our final three are Shun, Coleton, and Hannah?"

"Shun's cool, a little older though, think he's almost twenty. He's Shan Yu's son, we used to dare each other to do crazy stunts back on the island to see who was the strongest and fastest," Jay said, smiling fondly.

"Aw, Jay's first man-crush," Mal cooed.

"I remember him; you, Gil and Shun used to have weightlifting competitions; he always won," Evie giggled, earning a gentle smack from Jay.

"Well strong and fast is good, but is he someone who would help us? His father Shan Yu managed to cause an entire war with China," Ben asked, pen hovering over the boy's name.

"Definitely, his father's pretty much a recluse nowadays and won't even talk about when he used to run the Huns so Shun has grown up pretty normal for an isle kid," Jay replied.

Ben put a check mark by his name, "Coleton and Hannah?"

"You really don't want Coleton, his father has completely warped his mind," Mal said.

"I always thought he was kind of handsome," Evie said, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Yeah if you don't mind his obsession with killing all living creatures to take home to his father Clayton, to stuff and hang on a wall," Mal grimaced.

"I've seen Hannah around a time or two, kinda shy and weird. Her father is Hans, last in line to the throne and near murderer of Queen Elsa's sister Anna. If you think a mouse is meek, then you haven't met Hannah, that girl won't speak, won't make eye contact and won't stay in one place for more than five seconds. She's not a fighter, she's a hider," Uma said, shaking her head.

"Well then, that's the end of our list. We're left with Maverick, Aliya, Dizzy, Maggie, Shun, and Freddie," Ben said.

"Don't forget Gil, he may not be terribly bright but he'll fight if you ask him to and he's as loyal as a dog," Uma added.

"It's not that many names, is it?" Mal asked, looking at the list over Ben's shoulder.

"It doesn't have to be, with these extra kids on our side it makes us that much more powerful," Ben said confidently.

"You are the most optimistic person I have ever met," Uma laughed.

"You have no idea, the words quit and fail are not in his vocabulary," Mal snickered.

"Well good, cos they're not in ours either, unless it's in reference to the enemy," Harry said.

"I couldn't agree more Harry, we're going to protect Auradon with everything we have, down to our last man," Ben cheered, his infectious grin spreading around the group. He was relieved that this part of the plan was coming along, and hopefully, in the end, they'd wind up with more allies and not have to fight anyone. 


	7. Stay and Fight

Chapter 7:

Carlos glanced down at his cell phone that kept buzzing every few seconds with messages from Mal and Evie. To say it was getting distracting was putting it mildly and Jane kept casting him strange looks.

"Sorry, guess the others had some questions during Ben's get together. Though I'm not really sure what they're asking, it's just names with question marks," Carlos explained, seeing the name Maggie pop up.

"Do you know them?" Jane asked curiously.

"Maybe, I mean the only Maggie I knew was back on the isle. She was a few years younger than me, I used to slip her some gems and jewels I found when I'd go pick-pocketing with Jay. Her mother, Madam Medusa, had an obsession with them but Maggie was too scared and shy to steal anything," Carlos said.

"It's so strange how we all assumed that your parents had raised you just like them, that you'd all be miniature versions of them. I have to admit I hadn't even given any thought to the fact that the villains would have even have had children," Jane admitted, a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Ya, they weren't exactly the best role models, and I guess some of them had children expecting that they'd take over for their parents, do what they couldn't; but people like my mother just wanted a servant they knew would be loyal and never leave their side," Carlos said.

Jane placed a hand on Carlos' shoulder, knowing his mother was still a very sore subject. She wished she could help him more, take the pain away for him but she didn't think there was enough power even in her mother's magic wand to do that.

Carlos grimaced as another text came through, this one asking for Jane. "Um, this one's for you."

Jane took the cell phone, looking at it in confusion before reading the text from Evie.

<E> For Jane-Ben wants to know if there is any way to destroy the magical artifacts in the museum?

"Destroy them? Why in the world would we want to do that?" Jane muttered.

Carlos glanced over at the screen, "Oh! That was my idea! So the villains don't get their hands on them if the barrier comes down."

Jane's confusion morphed into horror at the thought, "That would be terrible, but I don't know. My mother always said we kept the artifacts so we'd never forget our past and how tools can be used for good or evil and it's our hearts that decide."

"Can you call and ask your mom?" Carlos asked.

Jane nodded and quickly dialed her mother's number, it was a fairly short conversation and by the time the limo stopped she had hung up. The driver lets them out and started pulling things from the truck and piling them in Carlos' arms.

"So what did she say?" Carlos asked, trying to see around the oversized wicker basket, blanket and various other things the driver had given him, in order to follow Jane.

Jane sighed heavily, "She said their physical selves could be broken, like Jafar's staff, but if the magic stored in them was released then it would go looking for another vessel. It's why it's so important that they stay dormant, otherwise you have to find a way to neutralize the magic and that can be very difficult."

"Oh," Carlos replied, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

Jane leaped forward, quickly taking the basket from Carlos' hands. "It was a really good idea though Carlos, and if things don't go well tomorrow then maybe we can destroy them anyway and figure out a way to trap the magic so the villains can't use it."

Carlos' head snapped up, "What might not go well tomorrow?"

Jane hesitated, her smile wavering, she pointed towards the blanket she'd laid out on the soft grass and settled down on it across from Carlos, who hadn't taken his eyes off her. "Tomorrow my mother is going to pass her Fairy Godmother magic to me. It'll be up to me to keep things like the barrier and the magic protecting the artifacts stable from now on."

"Boy, and I thought having to brush and clean all of my mother's fur coats was a lot of responsibility," Carlos said, looking shocked.

Jane nodded, her eyes downcast as the sheer weight of the task once again threatened to overwhelm her. Her eyes watered and she quickly picked up a napkin to keep her makeup from running.

Carlos noticed the silence and the way Jane was biting her trembling lower lip. "It'll be okay Jane, your mother wouldn't be doing this unless she trusted you. And just think now with a quick Bibbidy-bobbity-boo you can make your hair and outfits better than Audrey and you won't need Mal or Evie's help."

Jane gave a watery laugh, "Thank you, Carlos, I'm really going to try my best tomorrow. I don't want to let anyone down and I need to help protect Auradon."

Suddenly Carlos' phone began to ring and the boy let out a frustrated huff. Glancing down he sees Jay's name on the screen and he quickly snatched back his hand as he was about to answer it. After so long he was finally getting his much-anticipated date with Jane and everything else was just going to have to wait. Putting the cell phone away in the wicker basket, Carlos picked up a delicate white porcelain cup. "Would my lady care for a cup of tea?"

Jane giggled as Carlos bent for a low bow at the waist, poured the tea with a flourish and handed it over to her. She was very glad she'd taken Ben's suggestion to get away from all her worries for a night, and Carlos was being the most wonderful companion that she ever could have asked for.  
**********

Jay scowled down at his phone as his call to Carlos went to voicemail and he quickly sent off a text.

<J> What did Jane say about the artifacts?

Jay waited, staring down at the screen but after five minutes he still hadn't gotten a reply.

<J> Did you get Evie's text?

Once again after a few minutes, the screen was still blank so Jay hit the redial button but again was sent to voicemail. It was frustrating not being able to get a hold of Carlos when Jay needed to, usually, the smaller boy was always within arm's reach but the longer they were in Auradon the further they seemed to be drifting from each other.

Flopping back on his bed, Jay conceded to having to wait until Carlos got back from his date to discuss the multitude of new things that Ben had told them tonight. His cell phone beeping distracted him slightly and he eagerly grabbed it up.

<M> Any word from Carlos?

Jay rolled his eyes, this was the third text from Mal with the same question. She may have mellowed out since coming to Auradon and dating Ben but she was still as impatient as ever.

<J> No

<M> Did you call him?

<J> Yep, voicemail

<M> Try again

<J> He's on a date, he's probably turned his phone off

<M> But this is important! Call him again!

<J> No, you call him!

A few minutes passed before his own phone rang, Mal's number on the screen.

"He didn't answer," Mal gripped.

"I told you, he's on a date with Jane. I'm sure he asked her about the artifacts, Ben said she was going to fill Carlos in on what was happening with the Fairy Godmother ceremony thing tomorrow," Jay replied.

"He hasn't replied to any of Evie's or my texts so far. Evie was hoping he could help add some names to the list of Isle kids for Ben. And I'd really like to know if Jane thinks she can keep the barrier up or not," Mal said, the sound of her heels striking the floor of her bedroom echoing through the phone as she paced restlessly.

"I told you Mal, the names we have are fine for now, it'll take Ben awhile to get them all here even if he sends for them tonight. Let Carlos enjoy his date, poor Jane hasn't left her mother's side in days and this may be the last time they can have some fun for awhile," Evie said, her voice coming from further away in the girl's room.

"We do not have time for dates right now, there is way too much riding on this. Do I need to remind you both whose idea it was to destroy the artifacts in the first place? We all agreed we aren't going to be using them against our parents, which means we only have one other option. My mother may still be a lizard but if the villains get their magic back, how long do you think it'll take before they figure out how to change her back?" Mal asked, her voice stern and agitated.

Jay felt like his stomach had just dropped to his toes. Evie was silent on the other end of the phone as well, the implications of Maleficent coming back to full strength once again was just too horrifying to contemplate. Suddenly all Jay wanted to do was run, the barrier was going to fall, the villains, their sidekicks, and children would be free, they'd have their powers back and be hell-bent on destroying Auradon and the only thing standing in their way was a few powerless teenagers.

"What if we hide?" Jay whispered desperately.

"What?" Mal asked.

"When the barrier falls, everyone is going to be coming here, what if we packed our stuff, grabbed your mom, the artifacts and hid back on the isle? There won't be anyone left there to look for us," Jay explained.

"So we'd just sacrifice Auradon without even trying to save it?" Mal asked, her voice rising.

"Mal they're going to destroy everything, we don't stand a chance against an army of villains. All we've got is a Fairy Godmother in training and a few swords and shields. At least if we hide we might stand a chance at staying alive," Jay said.

"Jay, we don't even know if the barrier is going to fall yet. Nobody except Uma knows it's even weakening and it nearly killed her. We shouldn't panic, Ben and all of Auradon are counting on us," Evie added, softly.

Jay wanted to chuck his phone across the room in anger, Evie's words only managing to agitate him further. They were no match against what was coming, Carlos had it right, but if they were smart they might be able to get away without anyone even bothering to look for them. That was the problem with being noble, no self-preservation instinct, and even Jay knew sometimes it was better to run and hide then foolishly stick your head into the hungry dragon's mouth.

It was several hours later that Carlos finally strolled through the door to the dorm room, shooting Jay a small smile.

"So, it was good? What'd you two do?" Jay asked, raising a brow and smirking at his friend.

"Nothing much, Jane took me for a picnic, apparently it's all she's thought of doing since she found out about Mal and Ben's first date. Mostly we talked, she told me about the ceremony tomorrow and, before you ask, yes she called her mom about the artifacts. Apparently, they can be broken, but the magic will still be active unless it's neutralized. So, maybe Doug's idea of hiding them is the best way to go," Carlos replied.

Jay hesitated for a moment, "What if they weren't the only things we hid?"

Carlos glanced over looking confused and waited for Jay to elaborate.

"What if we were to hide too, right after all the villains start flooding Auradon we slip away before anyone sees us; we can take the artifacts with us too," Jay said.

Carlos looked surprised, "You don't think Jane can keep the barrier up, do you?"

"Seriously man? That's the biggest spell Fairy Godmother has ever cast, and the last time Jane got ahold of her wand at the Coronation it went completely berserk. We'd have better luck letting Dude control it," Jay scoffed, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"What happened to wanting to fight? Lonnie was going to have the entire Chinese army backing us, not to mention all the other kings, queens and fairies that the kingdoms have," Carlos replied.

"We're no match for the entire isle, fully powered and seeking revenge homing in on Auradon. Our best bet if everything goes wrong is to run, at least that way we might survive," Jay muttered, the terrifying image causing his stomach to twist painfully.

Carlos sat heavily on his bed, he'd never seen Jay look so defeated before, it was causing his own anxiety to rise. If Jay thought they were already in trouble then they might as well start packing now because their parents would raze the entire world until they were found and everything they loved was destroyed.

"Where would we go?" Carlos asked quietly.

"Back to the isle, it's literally the last place anyone would look for us and nobody would stay so it would be safe," Jay said

Carlos winced at the idea, there wasn't a single thing he ever wanted to go back there for, and although he understood Jay's reasoning, it was actually pretty brilliant, there was no way he could go live in Hell Hall for the rest of his life, alone except for the haunting images of his mother around every turn. "What about everyone else? They can't all come with us, it would draw way too much attention and take huge boats to ferry everyone there."

Jay looked away, "Obviously they wouldn't all get to come. Ben and Doug and a handful of other sure but most of them are probably going to want to stay with their families anyway."

"Jay, they're our friends! They don't even know what they're really up against. You'd seriously just sneak back to the isle and let everyone else die?" Carlos yelled.

Jay burst up from his bed, pacing irritably, "What do you want me to do Carlos, fight? You've heard the stories about our parents when they were at their strongest, most of the heroes in those stories didn't exactly do so great, Aurora pricked her finger and the entire kingdom was put to sleep, Belle nearly lost both her father and the beast, Snow White was in a coffin after she ate that apple and Aladdin first was trapped in the Cave of Souls, then sent to the end of the world, and finally had to fight Jafar when he turned into a giant snake and trapped Jasmine in a giant hourglass nearly suffocating her to death! There are more ways we could be killed then I can even think of right now and what do we have to fight back with, some swords and shields?"

Carlos was speechless, usually, he was the pessimistic one, along with Mal, but now Jay was laying out Carlos' worst fears and he had no idea how to diffuse the tension. "We have to at least try Jay, otherwise our parents will never stop coming after us. Maybe there's a way to neutralize the artifacts, that would take away a lot of their power."

<C> Mal, any idea how to neutralize magical items?

<M> I've heard of potions that can be made, but usually, it's for small-time stuff. We have a lot of very large, very powerful things that would need it.

<C> Can we do it?

<M> I'll ask Evie and we'll start rounding up ingredients.

"Mal and Evie are going to start brewing some potions," Carlos said, his wide grin firmly back in place.

Jay just rolled his eyes and flopped back down on his bed, "Total waste of time."

Carlos' smile dropped, "I'm gonna take Dude for a walk, be back in a bit."

Jay just grunted, rolling away towards the other side of his bed, his back to Carlos.

Carlos quickly made his way down to the girl's dorm room instead of out towards the gardens for Dude's usual evening walk, knocking rapidly on the door.

"Carlos, is everything okay?" Mal asked, opening the door.

"Not even close, I think Jay's having a complete meltdown; he wants us to sneak back to the isle and hide there if the barrier fails," Carlos explained.

The girls exchanged a knowing look.

"Wait, he told you?" Carlos asked, glancing between the two.

"Yeah, I'm afraid he didn't exactly take Ben's news well," Mal said, glad Carlos had missed the Jane insults.

"To be fair, Jay has been handling all this chaos very well up until now. He was the first to stand up and reassure us we'd all be fine," Evie added, putting down the skirt she was hemming.

Carlos hung his head, he'd done the exact opposite after the announcement and had taken his fear out on Jay. "So, does this mean we're really not going to have a chance of saving Auradon?"

"Well, I can't say Ben's news has made anything easier, but things are definitely going to get interesting around here with all the new students coming over," Mal replied, tossing a smirk at Evie who grinned back.

"Ben's bringing more kids over, isn't it kind of dangerous right now?" Carlos asked.

"E, I thought you texted Carlos earlier?" Mal asked.

Evie shook her head, "No, I thought you did."

Mal gave Carlos a quick rundown of their meeting with Uma and Harry that evening and the resultant plan to recruit as many isle kids as possible to help against the villains if need be.

Carlos looked a bit shell-shocked by the end and Evie wrapped an arm around his waist as they sat side by side on her bed.

"We were thinking of asking Maggie to join us," Evie said, breaking her friend out of his silent stupor.

"Mags? I haven't seen her in a while; her mom locked her in her room after she caught her trying to run away. Madam Medusa had the whole place crawling with crocodiles, I couldn't get close enough to help her," Carlos said, shoulders slumping.

"Well cheer up Carlos, 'cause Ben's not going to let a few walking handbags deter him; after all, he tried to take on my mom and Uma. Mags will be here before the month is over," Mal said confidently.

"That was why we were texting you those names, Ben was asking for a list of any kids we could think of who'd want to come live in Auradon," Evie said, handing Carlos a copy of the list.

Looking it over Carlos scowled at a few of the names. "I don't know if some of these kids are such a good idea, but I can think of a few to add."

Evie nodded and grabbed a pen from her nightstand.

"Man, I can't believe Jay agreed to have Aliya come over," Carlos chuckled. "You guys forgot Diego and the rest of the Bad Apples, and Harold and Jace would probably be willing to come; although they're pretty useless in a fight. Le Fou Deux and Little Sammy Smee would jump at the chance to get away from their dads and they're good to have around for grunt work."

Evie quickly jotted down the names, grinning as the list doubled.

"I feel like we're forgetting some people, who did you cross off the list?" Carlos asked.

"The Gaston twins, Claudine Frollo, CJ Hook and Zevon," Evie replied.

"Don't Gil and CJ have another sister? And what about Jay's cousin Jade?" Carlos asked.

Evie and Mal exchanged a glance.

"I wonder why Gil didn't mention her?" Evie said.

"And why did Jay forget about his cousin?" Mal wondered. "Carlos, head back over and ask Jay, Evie and I will run down to the infirmary and check with Uma and Harry."

Carlos hesitated, he really wasn't ready to face Jay's panic attack just yet.

"Carlos don't worry, Jay just needs to know that we have his back like he always has ours. We're going to stick together no matter what. This is the first time we've ever really had something worth losing," Evie consoled.

Mal stepped forward, crouched down and laid a hand on Carlos' knee.

"When my mother threatened Ben's coronation and told me love was weak, I was suddenly terrified of losing him. I'd never cared about anything or anyone that much, present company excluded of course," Mal added.

"And now the stakes are that much higher," Evie interrupted. "It's not just a boyfriend we could lose, it's all the other friends we've made, Jane, Lonnie, Doug, our classmates. This is the first time Jay's probably ever had anything he's cared about and it's scaring him to think about it being taken away. He's the star athlete in Tourney, he's got an entire team who depend on him, he's got hordes of rabid fangirls, one's he's not flirting with just so he can steal their jewelry and a life here in Auradon that makes him happy."

Carlos sighed, he completely understood, it was the same reason he was so freaked out about the villains getting loose. "You're right, Jay's dad never let him keep anything if he could make even a penny off it. I guess I just didn't think Jay cared that much."

"We all do, as much as our past selves would hate it, Auradon has really grown on all of us, and it's something worth fighting for," Mal said with a small smile.

Carlos nodded, said good-night to both girls and headed back to his dorm room. It was quiet as he walked inside, Dude scampered past his ankles and scrambled onto his bed. Jay was standing at the window looking outside. Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, Carlos tried to prepare himself if Jay started yelling again.

"Jay listen, I'm really sorry about before. I didn't give you a chance to really talk, and you've always been there for me whenever I start to freak out," Carlos said, walking across the room towards his friend.

Jay shook his head, still staring out the window. "You were right Carlos, we can't just run away and hide. We'd be leaving everyone else here to face our parents alone, that's so cowardly it makes me sick to my stomach; but I don't know another way to keep you and the others safe. We're no match for our parents, and sure they've grounded us, threatened us, insulted us and been pretty horrible but they've never come after us for revenge. They've wanted to use us and humiliate us but this time they're coming to kill us."

Carlos' hand shook as he placed it on Jay's shoulder. His throat was closed up so tightly he couldn't even speak, Jay's words cut through him, stripping away the thin layer of hope Mal and Evie had given him.

The tear sliding down Jay's cheek shattered something in Carlos, and his hand fisted the material it held. "We can't give up. We have to fight for Auradon, for everything we've got here, otherwise, we might as well give up and go back to the isle right now. Mal's willing to fight for Ben, for her love of Auradon Prep, Evie's willing to fight for Doug, for her fashion business she could never have had on the isle, so what do you love enough to fight for Jay?"

Jay took a shaky breath and scrubbed his arm across his face, turning to look at Carlos. The words he was about to blurt out died on his tongue so he quickly glanced around the room. "I guess having a nice, comfy bed to sleep on every night, instead of under a shelf on a rug is pretty good, and being able to get food whenever I'm hungry."

Carlos smirked, "Not to mention winning Tourney games and all your adoring fans screaming your name?"

Jay turned away again, his fist banging against the window sill. "I don't want to lose any of it."

"It was easier before, wasn't it? I didn't have a big comfy bed, being smart in school never made teachers proud of me and I would never have had a girlfriend. I didn't have anything worth losing, I would never have imagined I could care about anything," Carlos said. "But caring doesn't make us weak, it gives us something to fight for. We have things worth protecting now."

"Who are we kidding Carlos, we can't beat them," Jay sighed, letting his forehead rest against the window glass.

Carlos bit back a scream of frustration. "Do our parents have magic?"

"Not yet," Jay replied.

"Do our parents have weapons?" Carlos asked.

"Not unless they get their hands on the ones here," Jay said.

"And we have a plan to take care of those, don't we?" Carlos pressed.

"Yeah, some plan," Jay scoffed.

"Jay, I'm scared too. I don't want to have to face off against my mother or any of the others, but I also can't go hide back on the island. So, I'm going to stay here and fight with Mal, Evie and everyone else, but I'd really feel a lot better if I knew my best friend was going to be there too. Afterall, you can't leave your brain behind," Carlos smirked, relieved when a similar smile showed on Jay's reflection in the window.

Jay reached an arm out and pulled Carlos into a side hug, resting his chin on the shorter boy's head. He'd never backed down from a fight before, and usually, those were simply about pride, now it was about family and home. Both of which had certainly changed in the last year, they were no longer his father or the isle. Now his family was Mal, Evie, and Carlos, and Auradon was his home.

"You're going to stay, right Jay?" Carlos asked, a few quiet minutes later.

Jay glanced down, Carlos' eyes wide, the anxiety and fear clear, and he tightened his arm around the thin shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere buddy, I promise."

Carlos relaxed, his shoulders dropping. He knew Jay wouldn't go back on his word, he'd never outright lied to Carlos about anything that mattered before. Carlos looked at Jay's reflection in the window, it was pensive, a faraway look in the other's eyes'. So many things had changed between them in such a short period of time, just a few years ago Jay would have tripped him in passing and then mocked and laughed at him and now they stood, arms wrapped securely around each other, afraid but determined to protect all of Auradon together. He'd never felt this safe and secure before, it was certainly not something his mother ever instilled with her presence but standing next to Jay, Carlos felt stronger and more steady then he had all week. Jay may not believe it yet, but they were going to make it through this, even if Carlos had to drag him kicking and screaming in protest; he wasn't going to let his best friend run and hide.

Jay wasn't sure why he was giving in to Carlos' request so easily, he'd almost expected the smaller boy to jump at the chance to avoid fighting their parents. Cruella's cruelty was well known, and it was one thing to stand up to her when she was just a picture on a tv screen, but face to face was another thing entirely. Jay wasn't completely sure if Carlos would freeze or fight, but either way, he'd never forgive himself for abandoning his friend. He'd never felt this close to anyone in his entire life before, his own father never felt any affection for him, Mal had piqued his interest as Maleficent's daughter and they'd formed an uneasy truce that had turned into a solid friendship; although he still sometimes wondered about her motives. When Evie and Carlos had come along, Jay had been extremely skeptical. He hadn't figured either one would last, Carlos being a small scaredy cat and Evie being a stuck up wannabe princess. Both had surprised him however, Carlos was extremely smart and a quick tactician, while Evie had a good heart and a calm, down to earth demeanor. Somehow, before Jay had even realized it, the four of them had become a team, they had started relying on each other and had started to care. 


	8. Flick and Swish

Chapter 8:

The tension throughout Auradon Prep was palpable the next day, there weren't too many students left, instead slowly filling up with visiting dignitaries and magical folk, but it was as though everyone knew instinctually that something big was about to happen. Most hadn't been privy to the exact details of what was happening with Fairy Godmother and Jane this afternoon but the few that were felt like they were sitting on pins and needles.

Ben, Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Jane sat at the edge of a large clearing in the woods near Fairy Godmother and Jane's cottage, as several fairies prepared the area for the ceremony. The friends had been told that nobody except Fairy Ida, Jane, and her mother would be allowed in the clearing during the ceremony, so they were doing their best to calm Jane down beforehand.

"The ceremony is pretty simple Jane, just remember to repeat the spell's words after your mother and try to relax," Mal said, watching as the girl in question paced back and forth nervously biting her nails.

"I know, my mom's told me a dozen times and we practiced this morning but what if something goes wrong?" Jane said.

"Nothing is going to go wrong, but you have to stay calm and focused. If you panic you won't have control of your magic," Mal replied, feeling as though she'd repeated the same thing several times now.

The group exchanged glances as Jane just nodded and continued pacing restlessly. They didn't know what else they could say to help her, she didn't do well under pressure and it was clear their reassurances weren't helping. When Fairy Godmother walked into the clearing an hour before the ceremony was to start, the group all stood up to greet her.

"I'm so happy to see you all here to support Jane, this is quite an important step in her life and you all are such good friends to her," Fairy Godmother beamed, making Jane blush.

"Mother are you sure they can't stay?" Jane asked.

"Oh sweetheart, if it were possible of course I'd say yes, but there can't be any distractions," Fairy Godmother replied, patting Jane gently on the cheek.

Jane turned to the others, giving Carlos a sad smile before taking his hand. "I'll call you after?"

Carlos gave Jane's hand a squeeze. "Yeah absolutely, we'll all be waiting." He leaned in and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek, very aware of all the eyes on them.

Jane turned pink to the roots of her hair and turned to follow her mother across the clearing.

A hand settled on his shoulder and Carlos looked over at his friend's faces. "You think she'll really be okay?"

Mal bit her lip, "Magic can be tricky, I was trained since birth by my mother and I'm nowhere near as strong as her. It all depends on how badly you want it. Jane has to be confident that she can handle it, and it's going to be a lot. Instead of gaining power little by little she's going to get slammed by all of it at once."

"Jane knows what's at stake, she won't fail," Evie added, noticing how pale Carlos had gone beneath his freckles.

"Whatever happens Fairy Godmother and Fairy Ida are there to help, Jane's stronger than she looks; so we need to have faith in her," Ben said, as they all piled into his waiting limo.

The silence was thick in the car as they headed back to Auradon Prep, Mal and Ben sat beside each other holding hands and exchanging pointed looks, Evie tried to stay distracted by her social media account updates on her cell phone, while Carlos kept watching the minutes slowly tick by on his own cell phone screen, resting his head on Jay's shoulder. A sudden text message chime made everyone jump and Carlos almost dropped his phone.

"It's from Jane," Carlos said, quickly opening the message app.

<Jane> Can't transfer mom's magic, need to neutralize the magic wand. Help!

"Crap, it was too much for her to handle," Mal muttered after Carlos read the text aloud.

"Driver, turn us around and get us back to Fairy Godmother's immediately!" Ben shouted.

"Did you figure out a way to neutralize the artifacts yet? Maybe we can do the same thing with the wand," Carlos asked, looking at the girls.

Evie shook her head, "None of the potions were strong enough for that much magic, we'd need to brew something the size of a lake."

Mal and Ben suddenly looked at each other. "The Enchanted Lake!"

"Would that work?" Mal asked.

"I'm not sure, it purifies all magic spells and curses, which is why your love potion stopped working. We can ask Fairy Ida if she thinks it'll have any effect on magical items," Ben replied.

As the group raced back into the clearing it was to find a tearful Jane sitting on a rock while Fairy Godmother, Fairy Ida, and several other fairies stood huddled together speaking in hushed tones. Carlos quickly knelt beside Jane and held her as she collapsed into his arms.

"We didn't even get to try, as soon as Fairy Ida touched mother's wand she said there was no way I could handle all of the magic in it and all of the magic that needed to be passed into me. She said once mother's magic is inside me it will change to become part of me and any excess will need an empty vessel to fill and it won't be compatible with the magic in the wand," Jane sobbed brokenly.

"Which is certainly not Jane's fault, everyone's magic is different; even between mothers and daughters. If there wasn't so much magical energy needing to be transferred we could get away without using a wand, but your mother is the most powerful Fairy Godmother in all the realm and we can't just release the excess without somewhere for it to go," Fairy Ida said, stepping up and smiling gently down at Jane. "It would be like trying to fill a mayonnaise jar with jelly. The jar wouldn't be able to hold it without overflowing and it would make both taste terrible."

The group cringed at the woman's description but it got a smile out of Jane, and she wiped her eyes.

"Ma'am, do you think if we put the wand in the Enchanted Lake it would help?" Ben asked.

Fairy Ida looked thoughtful for a moment. "Although strong, the Enchanted Lake's powers deal with purifying evil or malicious magic, and I don't detect any of that in the wand. No, rather we need a void lake, a lake or any other large body of water that will draw out the magical energy and turn it into a neutral power. This way even if a person were to not use it, the power could be absorbed into anything; even the Earth itself."

"I've never heard of a void lake or anything like that," Ben said.

"There were several around the world decades ago, but I believe some were destroyed or contaminated. I think the dwarves used to protect an underground spring somewhere near the mountains, but I'm not sure if there are any dwarves left in the area," Fairy Ida added.

"Evie, do you think Doug would know?" Mal asked hopefully.

"I can certainly ask him," she replied, hitting his number on her speed dial list.

A few minutes later Evie hit the end call button. "It's been years since his dad or uncles have been in their mines and he's never heard of any springs but he said he'd ask."

Jane gave a grateful smile, "Thanks, Evie."

"Since it looks as though this won't be solved immediately and we'll have to postpone the ceremony, then I believe it would be worthwhile for Jane to get some magic lessons in the meantime. Usually, we would wait until you start your formal training at the Fairy Court but by your age, most children are much further along, so we'll start with the basics now. Mal, would you be so kind as to work with Jane as I teach her? I know your mother had taught you all this already but I find having a friend to help can speed things along," Fairy Ida said, causing Mal to pause in surprise until Ben nudged her.

"Yes, of course, I'll help, I don't really know any Fairy Godmother spells though, I only practiced the spells out of my mother's book," Mal replied hastily.

Fairy Ida smiled, not phased by Mal's admission in the least. "Not to worry, a spell is a spell good or evil. The point of this training is to get Jane used to calling on her power and not being afraid of it."

"Well, while you and Jane are practicing we should probably head back to school and see if Doug's had any luck," Ben said to Mal, eager to do more than stand around in a clearing all day.

"Can Carlos stay? I know before he couldn't because of the ceremony but if one friend helping is good, won't two be better?" Jane asked.

Carlos tried not to squirm as everyone looked at him. As much as he wanted to help Jane, magic was not his forte. "I really won't be very much help Jane, I don't have any magic."

"Actually I have a very important task for Carlos. Every one of you has at least a touch of magic, except for you Carlos, and in order for you to handle the magic wand and place it into the neutralizing waters you must not be magical in any way or the waters will try to draw your powers as well. So, I am going to entrust the wand you and you will have to be the one to place it into the water and then bring it back to Jane," Fairy Ida said, holding a long, narrow wooden box that contained the magical wand.

"Wait, I don't have any magical powers and neither does Evie or Jay, why can't one of us do this?" Ben asked, as Carlos practically shrank behind Jane in fear.

"Because young king, although you do not wield magic like Mal or Jane, your father was under a very strong spell for many years and a small bit of that was transferred to you when you were born. The same goes for Evie, the ability to brew potions and the amount you were exposed to has become a part of you. Your father Jay, was able to tap into a hidden amount of natural magical ability and over the years strengthened and harnessed it, so it too was passed along with your birth. None of you are completely without magic, so it must be Carlos or another like him that is as void of magic as the waters will be," Fairy Ida explained.

"I thought magic had to have a place to go once it leaves the wand? Won't Carlos absorb it then?" Jay asked, causing Carlos to pale at the thought.

Fairy Ida shook her head. "Not without his body already being a home for magic. Which is why none of you are to touch the wand or the waters, it would be very dangerous. Carlos is completely safe however, he can neither use the wand's powers or be overrun by them."

*******  
The assurances from Fairy Ida, Fairy Godmother and Jane did little to help Carlos and he felt like a nervous wreck on the ride back to Auradon Prep. The wand box sat in his lap, though Carlos was terrified of touching it, images of it sparking out of control in Jane's hands at Ben's coronation flitting through his mind.

"Dude, it's not going to attack you," Jay said, tapping the lid of the box with a finger.

Carlos scowled, "I know, but it's still the most powerful wand in all the kingdoms, what if I lose it?"

Ben reached across the seats and took the box. "Then we'll keep it under guarded protection until we find the neutralizing waters."

Carlos looked relieved for a moment before a thought struck him. "If we do find the waters does that mean we can neutralize all the artifacts too?"

"I guess so, though you're going to be the only one who can do it. Fairy Godmother put a dormancy spell on them so they could be handled safely but we still can't touch the water," Ben replied.

"Who would have guessed that we'd get sent on a quest by the high fairy that only a spotted mutt could do?" Jay teased, bumping Carlos with his elbow.

Carlos growled in annoyance at the horrid nickname and launched himself at Jay in a flying tackle. Jay shouted in surprise as he was shoved across the smooth leather bench seat, sprawling on his back while trying to avoid being punched in the stomach. Evie yelped in protest as Jay's head connected with her arm and her cell phone was flung to the car's floor. Ben chuckled, grabbed Evie's hand and pulled her to the opposite side of the car and out of the two boy's path of flailing arms and legs.

"It's a wonder those two haven't killed each other yet," Evie huffed, snatching up her phone.

"Damn it Carlos, no teeth!" Jay yelled as Carlos smirked victoriously at the teeth marks on Jay's forearm. Jay snarled and jumped on Carlos, sending both in a heap onto the floor as they fought to throw each other off and gain the upper hand.

Ben and Evie quickly tucked their feet up as the boy's rolled near them. "I don't think either one could cause more than a bruise to the other."

Evie sighed, "I just do not get it, I can't imagine Doug ever doing something like that and you'd never catch a girl being so rough."

"True, but when Mal wants to say she cares about you, or cheer you up, what does she do?" Ben asked.

"She gives me a hug or tells me how pretty I am," Evie replied.

"And can you see Jay hugging Carlos and telling him he's pretty?" Ben laughed.

Evie giggled, "It would certainly result in less bruising, or maybe more actually."

"When Chad and I were younger we used to wrestle all the time, it's a guy's way of giving a hug. Much more manly and macho," Ben said, puffing out his chest and flexing his biceps.

Carlos laughed at Ben's pose, gasping for breath as Jay's full weight pinned him to the floor. "Okay mercy, I give, I give."

Jay crowed triumphantly, wrapping his arms around Carlo's neck and trapping him for a brutal noogie. Carlos screamed as Jay's knuckles ruthlessly rubbed a fiery path across his scalp, his feet kicking wildly as his boots drummed ineffectively at Jay's shins. Carlos clutched at his head as both boys slumped back against the car seats, sprawled across the floor.

"You jerk, that really hurt," Carlos snapped, his scalp throbbing with pain.

Jay pulled Carlos against his chest and smoothed a hand gently through the mussed white and black locks. Carlos glared up at him but Jay just smirked and dropped a kiss to the crown of his head muttering a quiet sorry. Rolling his eyes, Carlos relaxed and let Jay continue to run his fingers through his hair.

"You see, Carlos isn't worrying about the wand anymore," Ben whispered to Evie.

"Was there kissing and cuddling after your wrestling matches with Chad too?" Evie asked with a playful grin.

Ben blushed bright red and quickly shook his head. "No, but I have a feeling Carlos and Jay are more like brothers than just friends like we were."

Evie nodded, watching the two boys on the floor fondly. They had formed a special bond not seen on the isle, as most kids were taught to avoid any sort of personal attachments. Even the adults didn't stay together unless it was mutually beneficial, but it was certainly never out of love.

"For insisting that you guys don't know anything about love or caring about others, I think you've figured it out anyway," Ben commented.

"We just figured each other out, we know what makes each other happy, sad, mad and scared. There aren't any secrets between us, we protect each other, Mal's always backing me up and Jay watches out for Carlos so we're never alone," Evie replied solemnly.

Ben smiled in understanding, the life they had on the isle was too cruel and hard for anyone weak and defenseless, teaming up had kept them alive. It had also created bonds stronger than anything Ben had ever seen. Sure he'd protect his friends if they were threatened, though that never happened in Auradon, on the isle Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos would die for each other. Their face-off against Maleficent was proof enough of that.

As the limo pulled up to the school, Ben reached out to wake Jay and Carlos, who had both fallen asleep.

"Wait! Jay tends to punch when he's asleep," Evie warned, snagging Ben's outstretched wrist. Ben pulled his arm back as Evie sent a sharp and swift kick to the bottom of Jay's boot.

"What?!" Jay yelled, his arm tightening around Carlos' chest as his other hand lashed out.

"Jay, we're back at school, you need to wake up Carlos so we can get out of the car," Evie said, careful to avoid stepping on anyone as she got out.

Jay quickly straightened up, taking stock of his surrounding before releasing Carlos with a shake to rouse him. "We're back at school, time to wake up."

Carlos was stumbling to his feet before his eyes were fully open, snagging the back of Jay's jacket so he wouldn't face plant the ground as he climbed out of the car.

Doug came racing up to the four, looking excited and anxious. "I just heard back from my uncle Doc who spoke to my uncle Grumpy who is pretty sure there are still some old maps in their cottage in Snow White's woods that should show all their old mining tunnels and whether or not there were any underground springs or rivers."

Ben clapped him on the back, "Good job Doug, how far is it to the cottage?"

"From here, probably about four or five hours at least," Doug replied.

"That doesn't give us much time to search tonight. Would your dad and uncles mind if we stayed the night at the cottage? That way we can look at the maps and set out early tomorrow," Ben said.

"Sure, nobody's lived there since Snow White got married, they didn't need to mine as much and found better jobs they liked in town. We might want to pack some supplies though, I don't know what kind of condition the cottage is in after all these years," Doug said.

"I can help make a list of things we might need," Evie volunteered, looping her arm with Doug's.

"Sounds good, don't forget to hit the kitchens, we'll need something for dinner and breakfast. I'll give Mal a call and let her know what's happening. As soon as we're all packed let's meet back here," Ben instructed.

"Jay, why don't you and Carlos pack the food and Doug and I will leave you a list of supplies in your room. I'm thinking basic camping stuff, sleeping bags, flashlights, extra batteries, matches and stuff like that," Evie said, typing out a quick list on her phone.

The group split up, everyone hurrying off to finish their tasks. Carlos quickly loped alongside Jay as they headed for the kitchen, trying to not to think about everything that could possibly go wrong tomorrow.

"Looks like there's some leftover pot roast from lunch, pot roast sandwiches sound good?" Jay asked, grabbing several large containers out of the refrigerator.

Carlos was staring blankly into a cupboard, seemingly deaf to what Jay was saying.

"Dude, you okay?" Jay asked when Carlos didn't answer.

Carlos shook his head, trying to pull himself out of his daze. "Uh, yeah I'm fine."

Jay seriously doubted that but left it alone for the moment as Carlos started pulling arm fulls of food out and dumping them on the large metal prep table beside the sandwich makings.

Across campus, Ben phoned Mal as he headed for Fairy Godmother's office, where his father was currently taking command.

"So how goes the fairy training?" Ben asked when Mal answered.

Mal huffed a laugh, "Well so far we've mastered the proper way to flick and swish a wand and moved on to careful enunciation of incantations."

Ben smiled at the image of Mal and Jane side by side carefully enunciating and flicking. "Sounds like fun, and Fairy Ida did say she was going to start with the basics."

"Thankfully it's so basic even Jane can't over think it. I just wish we could speed things up a bit, at this rate she'll never be ready for the bigger spells by the time you bring back the wand," Mal replied.

"Speaking of which, Jane may have a bit more time to practice, we're heading to the Seven Dwarves cottage as soon as we're packed but we probably won't reach it until tonight. Are you okay staying with Jane or would you like us to pick you up on the way?" Ben asked.

Mal hesitated, on the one hand, these remedial magic lessons were about as exciting as watching paint dry but on the other Jane had been making progress and she'd thanked Mal after every swish and flick for staying with her. "Is there something specific I could do to help?"

"Actually it's pretty much going to be up to Doug and Carlos. Once we get the maps and make it through the tunnels, Carlos will have to do his part with the wand and then we'll be back as fast as we can," Ben explained.

"Then I guess you've got that covered, so I'll stay here prepping Jane. Let me know if there's anything else I can do," Mal replied, feeling a bit frustrated at not being able to do more.

"Oh, I sent for the first group of isle kids the other day and I won't be there to greet them!" Ben exclaimed suddenly.

"When are they supposed to be arriving?" Mal asked.

"This evening, if everything goes right. Maybe I should just send the others ahead?" Ben wondered, pacing the hallway in front of the headmaster's office.

"No, you need to make sure the wand gets neutralized, who else can be there? It needs to be someone the kids are going to trust, should I come back?" Mal said.

"You can't, you promised Jane and Fairy Ida you'd stay and help. Carlos and Doug obviously have to go, that leaves either Evie or Jay," Ben replied.

"Neither one is going to want to stay behind, but I think Evie is your best bet. She'll make sure the kids are welcomed and taken care of, and I'll come back after dinner to give her a hand," Mal said, the frustration mounting. She was so used to taking charge of a situation, that having to sit and wait was making her very uneasy. "Promise me you'll call as soon as you make it to the cottage, okay? And please be careful tomorrow."

Ben sighed, he wished he could reassure Mal that everything was going to be fine, it made his heart ache to hear the worry in her strong voice. "I promise Mal, I love you."

Mal bit her lip hard as Ben's confident, sweet voice said those words she didn't think she'd ever get used to. "I have this ridiculously sappy urge to beg you not to go, so before I start crying like some over emotional princess, I love you too, bye!"

Ben slumped heavily against the solid wooden door behind him, Mal's words making his chest tight and knees weak. She hated admitting to having any emotions, but he knew every time she got overwhelmed and confessed to him, she was letting him into her heart a little more. Taking a deep breath and trying to summon his courage, Ben tucked his phone into his back pocket and prepared to update his father on the latest news.

 


	9. Beast Mode

Chapter 9:

To say King Beast wasn't happy with Ben's announcement would be understating things drastically, in fact, he wanted to call an emergency council meeting and get everyone else's ideas on how best to proceed. Ben, however, didn't feel like they had time, Fairy Ida had tasked them with neutralizing the wand's magic and that had to be done quickly before Fairy Godmother's magic consumed her. King Beast, however, argued that the only ones who could accomplish that task were Carlos and Doug and since they didn't know how long it could take Ben would be leaving his kingdom without a king at a crucial time. Ben didn't have a better alternative except that he couldn't see how the council would have any ideas either. There were too many things that needed to happen before anything else and it all needed to happen yesterday.

King Beast stood up from his seat behind Fairy Godmother's desk. "I understand how difficult it is not to be right in the thick of things, commanding your team and making sure everything goes right, but Doug, Carlos, and Jay are trustworthy enough for this mission, aren't they?"

Ben scrubbed his face wearily with his hands. "Yes, I know they'll do everything they can to fix the wand and get it to Jane."

King Beast nodded. "We're expecting several more transfer students from the isle today, who is going to take responsibility for them?"

"Actually I was going to leave Evie in charge of that so they would feel comfortable with someone they already knew," Ben explained.

"And who is going to keep the other kingdoms and magical folk up to date on what's happening while you're gone? I believe the entire Chinese army has promised to help and the emperor is wondering how quickly he needs to deploy his troops," King Beast added.

Ben groaned although it was a wonderful idea to have such a large fighting force if they needed it, the logistics of dealing with hundreds of troops hit the teen like a freight train.

"This is when a king has to prioritize and delegate very carefully Ben. I have to stay here and run the school, you are king now, you have to stay here and run the kingdom," his father said, knowing his son was warring with what he wanted to do versus what he needed to do.

"Then call a council meeting please father, but I don't want to focus too much on what's happening with the wand, if we're going to have an army of Chinese warriors, magical folk, Auradon Prep students and whoever else I'm going to need help commanding them all," Ben said, bidding his father goodbye as he hurried out of the office.  
*********

Ben was standing beside the limo when Evie, Doug, Jay, and Carlos trudged out of the dorms, each sporting a large backpack and sleeping bag.

"Carlos and I already dropped off the food, where's your stuff?" Jay asked, seeing Ben still empty-handed.

"Slight change of plans, I have to stay here and lead a war council and I need Evie's help with the new transfers coming over from the isle tonight," Ben said, as the four burst into loud protests. Ben held up his hands and tried to be heard over the ruckus. "I know this isn't what we had decided, but the Chinese Emperor is sending his troops and I need to figure out who else is fighting with us. The kids from the isle are already on their way and if I'm not here to greet them then they need to see a familiar face that they can trust. Mal will be back tonight after dinner to help, but tomorrow she'll need to go work with Jane until Fairy Ida is sure she's ready for the ceremony."

"We can't just send them alone Ben," Evie argued.

"They won't be alone, I'm sure between two of the smartest guys I know Doug and Carlos can figure out how to read a map and Jay's there if anything else goes wrong," Ben consoled.

Evie pouted and wrapped her arms around Doug, who hugged her back.

"What about the other artifacts? Are we going to try putting them in the water too?" Carlos asked.

"I forgot to ask Fairy Ida if she thought that would work. You might as well take them, I'll message you once I've spoken to her either way," Ben replied, he really missed having Jane chasing after him with all her notes, schedules and reminders.

Jay, Carlos, and Doug packed their things into the limo's spacious truck and Evie doled out a few extras she was sure might come in handy from her own supplies. Jay hopped behind the steering wheel this time since they would need the limo for an unknown amount of time, Doug road shotgun to navigate and Carlos climbed in the back, peeking between the front seats through the divider window.

"Stay safe all of you, Jay try to bring Doug back in one piece please," Evie said, leaning in the passenger window to give her boyfriend a kiss good-bye.

"No worries, it'll be a walk in the park and who knows if the dwarves left any gems I might come back richer then a sultan," Jay quipped, giving Evie his best Cheshire grin.

Ben and Evie stood together waving as the limo drove out of view. "Guess I'd better give Mal a call," Ben said, giving his phone a look of trepidation.

"She'll understand Ben, you can't be everywhere at once and the boys will be fine," Evie said, barely able to take her eyes off the horizon where the limo had disappeared. She was missing Doug already, one of the things she liked about him most was that he wasn't some gung-ho adventure hungry prince, always looking for trouble, though now it seemed it had found him and dragged him off without her. Desperate to distract herself from doom-filled thoughts, Evie tried to think about the incoming kids from the isle. "So who's coming this evening?"

"I decided to pick those who you, Mal, Carlos, Jay and Uma know personally, so, Dizzy, Gil, Maverick, Diego, and Maggie. I'll send for the next group as soon as those five are settled and we know how it goes with Fairy Godmother's wand," Ben replied, smiling as Evie squealed excitedly upon hearing her beloved Dizzy's name.

"Oh Carlos is going to be so happy, he doted on Maggie like she was his little sister and he's always looked up to Diego. He was the one who used to call Carlos a little pup, because he'd trail after Diego wherever he went," Evie smiled.

"I'm going to be with the council until really late tonight, but if you need any help or have any questions just sent me a text. All you have to do is show them around the school, get them to their rooms, make sure they're comfortable and I'll take them to breakfast in the morning and fill in anything else," Ben explained, handing Evie a folder of paperwork with room assignments, Auradon Prep school policies, and maps of the grounds.

"Then we should be all set, you should probably give Mal a call and get something to eat before your big meeting," Evie replied. Ben nodded and pushed Mal's number on his phone while hurrying towards the dining hall.

 


	10. Villianous Plans

Ch. 10

Lady Tremaine stalked angrily across the marble foyer, flinging open the large double doors, and granting entry to Cruella, the Evil Queen, Madam Medusa, Ursula and her sister Morgana.

"This is completely outrageous, King Beast's brat of an offspring sent his guards here and stole off with my poor Drizella's daughter today," Lady Tremaine fumed, settling down on one of the matching velvet couches in her drawing room.

"It had to be Mal's doing, ever since she lost her heart to that Prince Ben everything's gone wrong. She turned my precious Evie against me and then turned her mother into a lizard!" the Evil Queen complained.

"Something is going on, Uma disappeared, then I heard guards came for Hook's boy and now my sister Morgana's son was taken as well," Ursula added.

"You children are weak, my Carlos only went over there because that was part of the plan to get Fairy Godmother's wand. He'd come back to me if he could, they must be keeping him against his will. What are we going to do?" Cruella argued.

"I heard the strangest rumor the other day, a fisherman said he almost went through the barrier while out in his boat. Nobody believed him of course, rambling like a drunken idiot, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were true? Suppose it might be connected to the children being taken?" Madam Medusa said, earning shocked looks from everyone else in the room.

"If the barrier is weakening we need to know immediately," Evil Queen insisted.

"And I suppose you're just going to walk up to it and try to go through?" Lady Tremaine asked, raising a contemptuous eyebrow.

"The only way to get close is either by boat or to swim," Morgana piped up.

"Yes indeed sister, which means we're the most capable," Ursula grinned.

"If you get through what's to keep you from leaving us behind?" Madam Medusa asked.

Ursula and Morgana exchanged glances, they had no reason to go back for anyone.

"Ladies, what good would two do against Auradon's might when if we all go together we might stand a chance of overrunning them?" Cruella suggested.

"Take on all of Auradon? You're clearly as insane as I've heard, we'd need every single villain, henchmen, and toady to help with that plan," Lady Tremaine scoffed.

"Then we get them if we start spreading the word that the barrier is weak and we are planning on overthrowing Auradon the people will flock to us to help," Evil Queen said.

"First things first, Ursula should swim out and test the barrier, then we decide if we move against Auradon," Madam Medusa said, getting a haughty look from the sea witch.

"It'll have to be after dark, I wouldn't want anyone following me out there," Ursula agreed.

With the start of a plan in place, Ursula and Morgana left, while the rest of the villainous women talked about how they might take over the kingdom that had enslaved them so many years ago.


	11. Of Ice Walls and Navy Blockades

Ch. 11

"You let them go alone? Why didn't you call me before they left, I could have flown back," Mal seethed, as Ben tried to explain why he's had to stay behind.

"They're perfectly capable of handling things Mal, but there's nobody else to run the kingdom if I leave. They can call us if they need help, but between Doug and Carlos I seriously doubt anything could possibly happen that they couldn't fix," Ben said.

Mal groaned, there were plenty of things that could go horribly wrong, which is why they always went together on missions like this. Sometimes Ben was too optimistic, it grated on Mal's nerves that he could be so happy during times of total chaos. "You will call me immediately if they need help!"

Ben quickly agreed, knowing when not to push Mal any further. As angry as she got at him, he knew it was simply out of fear for her friends. She could be reckless and impulsive in these moods but to selflessly sacrifice yourself for others was a rare trait even in Auradon, however much the children were taught it was the epitome of goodness. Ben sincerely hoped nothing would happen to their friends, so much was hinged on Carlos being able to neutralize the wand and other artifacts that he didn't even want to contemplate any other scenarios but success.

The large conference room started filling up as the royal council and new arrivals to Auradon began taking seats around the rectangular table that dominated the room. Ben said his goodbyes to Mal and hastily stood up to greet everyone as they entered. Council meetings were his least favorite royal duty on normal occasions but today was particularly nerve-wracking as the usual members nearly quadrupled in number. Lonnie's mother Mulan was there representing the Chinese Emperor, King Simba, Queen Ariel, Queen Elsa, King Aladdin and several other royal dignitaries standing in for their courts and kingdoms. Ben suddenly felt completely overwhelmed and a bit sick to his stomach.

Once the greetings were handled, Ben tried to think of how best to word the news he was about to deliver. It wasn't going to go over well with many, and he knew he didn't have the sort of answers they'd want, but he couldn't stall forever.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for being here today, I know many of you traveled a long way so I'll get straight down to business. I'm going to start from the beginning for those of you who have just arrived, so please bear with me and hold all your questions until the end, thank you," Ben started, launching into the story of Fairy Godmother's magical ailment and the resulting issues. As he spoke, he could see the veiled reactions from some, others bit their tongues to keep their exclamations silent and as predicted the overall tone once he'd finished was one of anger, fear, confusion, and frustration.

"Is the barrier still holding, and how long can we expect it to?" Queen Elsa asked

"Yes, it is still holding, as I explained Ursula's daughter Uma, got through but not without such severe burns that she's been completely incapacitated while recouping in our medical facility for the past several days. We don't know exactly how long it will continue to hold, Fairy Godmother's magic is slowly draining her and if she dies, all the spells she has cast will fail," Ben replied.

"If the barrier falls and the villains get free, what do we do to stop them?" Mulan asked.

"That's precisely why I've called you all here. Uniting all the kingdoms has given us great resources, and knowledge. Together I'm hoping we can pool all of that and create a plan to protect Auradon. While we continue to hope for the best, it would be unwise not to prepare for the worst. You all know how ruthless and cunning the villains can be, and although it's been many years since they wielded any power, I'm afraid imprisonment has made many desperate for revenge," Ben explained.

Thankfully nobody was panicking yet, but everyone started discussing who was the most dangerous villains, how they needed to be dealt with and why they were the best to lead Auradon's armies. Ben could tell this was going to be a very long meeting and he was going to need to figure out who to appoint for certain defensive positions. The fairies and Genie began asking about the use of their magic, which Ben was loathe to deny them in these circumstances when someone made the connection and asked about the villain's magic once the barrier fell. Of course Ben had to reply truthfully that yes, their magic would be restored as well. That admission went over like a ton of bricks and the noise level ratcheted up as the fear mounted. Ben needed to get everyone calm and focused on the same problem, rather then the wild speculations they were doing now.

"Everyone, if you would all quiet down for a moment I would like to direct your attention to the front of the room," Ben called out, pulling down a large map of Auradon along the wall.

The group all looked up, confusion settling over their features but thankfully remaining silent.

"We need to create a defensive strategy along Auradon's border. If the villains get free, the only way off the island is by sea, so we're going to need defense here and along the coast," Ben said, pointing to the ocean between the Isle of the Lost and Auradon. As Ben continued, he realized it was similar to making plays for a Tourney game, everyone at the table being his teammates, each with specific positions and strengths he could use against the opposition. Although he'd never admit it to anyone in the room, it became less daunting thinking about it in those terms and he felt more at ease. The meeting continued in that vein for several more hours, those attending volunteering for strategic positions and suggesting other who would be beneficial in the fight who weren't present.

"If the goal is to try to keep the villains contained on the island until another barrier can be erected, then perhaps I can help make one?" Queen Elsa offered.

"A magical ice wall?" Ben guessed.

Queen Elsa gave a small smile, "I know we've all agreed to the no magic ordinance, and in any other situation I wouldn't even suggest such a thing, but the wall would stand strong against magic, heat or anything else thrown at it and I could create an army of snow creatures to help fend off the villains."

Everyone around the room perked up and looked eager at the idea, but Ben hesitated. No magic was the one rule his father would absolutely not bend on whatsoever, he'd enforced it strictly and managed to get all of Auradon, filled with magical folk whether wielding wands or wishes to go along with it for all these years. Queen Elsa's plan was a good one, everyone in the room knew it and Ben couldn't deny it either, if a magical ice wall kept the villains from being able to set foot on Auradon then they could avoid so much trouble. Ben wrote the suggestion down. "I'll consider it, thank you."

There were a few grumblings from Genie and the fairies after that, making pointed comments on how useful such a thing like a magical ice wall would be, how being able to constantly make more creatures to fight without having to sacrifice anybody else would be practically heroic but Ben ducked his head, avoiding their glances and pretended to concentrate on what he was writing down. He absolutely needed to speak to his father about possibly allowing a few people to use magic in the fight, he couldn't deny that it might save hundreds of lives and he'd never forgive himself if he didn't use every resource available to him.

Staring at the map, sectioned off now with names listed in rows where certain groups would be stationed, Ben realized that although they had the grounds around Auradon Prep covered completely and a very impressive line of guards going up and down the coast, their biggest problem was the large expanse of ocean between them and the isle. Looking over the people crowded around the table, Ben's eyes fell on the bright red hair cascading down around Queen Ariel's face like a beacon.

"Queen Ariel, does Atlantica have enough guards to help protect the waters between us and the isle?" Ben asked.

Queen Ariel looked up slightly startled, "Atlantica had a fairly strong guard for the palace and the rest of the kingdom, especially after Ursula and then her sister Morgana attacked us. I'd have to speak with my sister Attina to know exactly, why?"

"Since the only way across is over or through the water, it would be our best spot to start our defense. We know Ursula and Morgana are on the isle, along with Captain Hook's pirates, who have boats to ferry across those who can't swim," Ben replied.

"What about naval boats? Eric has an entire fleet of them, I'm sure he'd send them down here to help," Queen Ariel suggested.

"That would be great, but we don't want to leave your shores unprotected, perhaps if we could figure out how to spread them up and down the coastline they could keep an eye out for anyone trying to flee in a different direction," Ben said.

"You're going to need dozens of ships for that, each with very large crews," Queen Elsa said, a concerned frown marring her face.

Suddenly Ben's phone vibrated and he glanced down at it, seeing a text from Evie that the kids from the isle had arrived.

"Queen Elsa, Queen Ariel, you both have countries that have major dealings with ships, can you gather enough of your builders, and sailors to make some more ships and crews here?" Ben asked.

The women looked perplexed. "We only have about a half dozen shipbuilders and our ships are for freight not fighting," Queen Elsa said.

"I'd be happy to volunteer anyone from my kingdom of course but I've been told ships take weeks to months to build, I didn't think we had that much time," Queen Ariel added.

"Queen Elsa with whatever ships you can get here, and your builders and Queen Ariel's we can modify your ships with weapons and we might get a few more built-in time with all the extra hands we'll have available. If all of you can keep pulling together like this we will be able to save Auradon," Ben assured, getting nods of agreement from both women who immediately began laying out their own plans together.

Ben excused himself while everyone was busy strategizing, a half-formed, completely mad plan swirling in his head and he hurried down to the infirmary.

 


	12. Pirates Of Auradon

Ch.12

Just as the sun began to set over the horizon, a limo pulled up to the front steps of Auradon Prep and Evie eagerly opened the rear passenger door. Before she could utter a single syllable of welcome, Evie's arms were full of squealing, messy haired, bespeckled Dizzy. The moment Dizzy had seen Evie poised at the bottom of the steps she'd nearly launched herself out the car door. Diego, Maverick, Gil, and Maggie followed her at a much more sedate pace, already in shock over the opulence that was laid out before them.

"Well, it's no wonder you guys chose good, this place is like heaven," Diego said, his eyes wide as he slowly turned in circles.

"And this is just the outside. Welcome everyone to Auradon Prep," Evie said, her arms still wrapped around Dizzy's shoulders.

"We're not really going to have to do all the chores here are we?" Maggie asked, her voice so meek Evie barely heard her.

Evie shook her head and gave the petrified looking girl a warm smile. "Not at all, everything here is taken care of for you. No laundry, no dishes, no scrubbing floors, no dusting; you don't even need to make your bed if you don't want to."

"Is it all done with magic?" Maverick asked.

"No, there is a very large housekeeping staff, kitchen staff, laundry staff and a bunch of other people who take care of your every need and want. You'll be paired up, but you get rooms of your own with a private bathroom in each and the most comfortable beds you've ever felt. There are three square meals a day with as much food as you want, so you'll never be hungry again," Evie replied, leading the group into the main dormitory hall. She recognized the unbelieving, almost suspicious looks the kids were giving her and immediately felt guilty. While Ben had intended to bring over more kids from the isle, it felt a bit underhanded to be doing it now, right before a potential war.

"So, where's everyone else?" Diego asked as they walked down deserted hallways.

Evie pretended not to understand the full question. "Mal is with a friend doing some homework, while Jay and Carlos are on a camping trip with my boyfriend Doug."

Diego's eyebrows shot up in disbelief but he held his tongue. He knew there was more to this whole student transfer story then the Auradon guards had fed him, but he wasn't sure if it was something Evie knew or just wasn't comfortable discussing around the younger kids. Afterall Mal was as likely to be doing homework, as Carlos was to be taking a camping trip as Diego was to wave a magic wand and start granting wishes like a fairy. He certainly hoped Carlos would be back soon and could help fill him in.  
****************

"You're leaving?" Jane asked as Mal helped the girl clean up the dinner dishes.

"Just for tonight, I'll be back right after breakfast tomorrow morning. Ben got a few more of our friends off the isle today and I really want to make sure they're okay," Mal replied.

"Oh, of course, I didn't mean to keep you here all day. You already know this stuff so it must be horribly boring, though it really was nice practicing with you," Jane said, her crestfallen eyes downcast as she fidgeted with a plate.

Mal tried to keep from groaning, she didn't know where Jane learned that pathetic, heart wrenching, kicked puppy look but it was more effective than anything she'd ever seen before. How Fairy Godmother didn't seem phased by it, Mal would never know. "It was a bit tedious, but I never got to do more than read spells and pretend to cast them while I was on the isle, this is the most magic I've ever done, and I enjoyed doing it with you too."

The smile that exploded across Jane's face was worth all the hours of swishing and flicking today; no matter how sore her wrists were. "Thank you so much, Mal! I can't wait to see what we'll learn tomorrow, I'm actually excited to learn about magic. All these years my mother has insisted that it was for the best I never learn, but now it's all I can think about. Fairy Ida said I'll even be going to a special fairy training school after this and someday I might be as great a fairy Godmother as my mom."

Mal chuckled at Jane's enthusiasm, she didn't think she'd ever seen her so happy; except perhaps when talking about her dream date with Carlos of course. Speaking of which, did Carlos know about this fairy school? Trying not to drop her smile as Jane babbled on, Mal began to worry how her friend would take the news of his girlfriend's sudden departure. Obviously, Jane herself hadn't thought that far ahead or she'd be hearing about it.

"Jane, thank you for dinner, but it's getting late and I'd like to get back before everyone's in bed," Mal interrupted, handing the girl the last clean plate she'd been drying.

Jane blushed, realizing that she'd been carrying on again and walked Mal to the door. It amazed her how much the former villain in training had changed since coming to Auradon and how easy she was to get along with now. Jane felt positively silly thinking about how terrified she had been of Mal and her friends when they first met, for heaven's sake she was dating one of them now!

Mal waved goodbye to Jane and concentrated on transforming herself into her dragon form. Usually, it overtook her by force if she was feeling threatened or overly agitated, but ever since she'd changed to take on Uma, Mal had been trying to get more control over the power. Now that she could pretty much do it on command it certainly beat waiting around for Ben to send a limo, and flying was an absolute blast.

As much as Mal wanted to prolong her flight, as she neared Auradon Prep she saw Evie walking with someone out of the dormitory's front door. Swooping down low, Mal circled the driveway and landed next to the sidewalk, concentrating on shifting back into a human.

"Look out, it's Maleficent!" Gil yelled, suddenly grabbing Evie's shoulder and hauling her backward until she was pressed against the dormitory doors they had just exited.

A gust of wind buffeted her face and she peeked over Gil's shoulder, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Evie smiled seeing the familiar purple dragon, knowing it certainly wasn't who Gil thought, but touched that the young man would try to protect her from such a possibly huge threat. As the dragon landed, it shimmered and began to shrink until finally Mal was left standing in its place.

"Gil?" Mal called, seeing the young pirate huddled at the top of the stairs. Glancing around she noticed Evie had somehow disappeared.

"See, it's not Maleficent, Gil, only Mal. She can turn into a dragon too. Everything is okay now," Evie reassured, trying to pat the boy on the shoulder from her awkward position.

Gil gaped at Maleficent's daughter who was taking the stairs two at a time towards them, Maleficent herself nowhere in sight, so he slowly stepped away from his protective stance over Evie.

Mal let out a relieved sigh as Evie stepped out from behind Gil, smoothing out her blue leather mini skirt and navy blue hair. "Evie, everything okay?"

"Of course, I was just taking Gil to the infirmary to see Uma and Harry. All the others are getting settled in their rooms, Dizzy and Maggie are next door to us, Diego and Maverick are across from Jay and Carlos and Gil will be sharing with Harry. Dizzy was so excited, she talked non-stop through my entire school tour," Evie replied.

Mal laughed, she could definitely imagine Dizzy doing just that. "So, Maverick didn't want to see Uma?"

"I sensed a bit of tension between Uma and him the last time we spoke about him coming over so I thought I'd check with Uma first before springing him on her," Evie explained.

"Did you tell Gil why Uma's in the infirmary?" Mal asked quietly, as Gil followed them, spinning in slow circles while looking around.

"He hasn't asked, so I didn't know if I should or not," Evie whispered back.

Mal stopped short, "We've got to give him a head's up. Gil do you know why Uma's in the infirmary?"

"Uh, no," Gil answered a very unconcerned look on his face.

Mal and Evie exchanged looks. "A few days ago, Uma tried to get through the isle's barrier. It's weakening because Fairy Godmother is sick, and since she's the one who cast it, the spell is weakening with her. Uma managed to get through the barrier but she got very badly burned and we've been taking care of her here."

Gil looked puzzled for a minute like his brain was having a hard time absorbing the news. "Is she going to be okay? Is that why she never came back? Me and Harry waited on the pier and then one morning he was gone too. Did Harry try to go through too? He can't swim, where is he?"

"They're both fine Gil. Uma is getting better every day and Harry came to keep her company," Evie replied quickly, seeing the worry start to cross the boy's face. Both girls decided they'd said enough and hurried Gil along.  
*************************************

Working his way quickly from the conference room, Ben practically sprinted across the Auradon Prep campus to the infirmary building. He flung open the doors, much to the displeasure of the nurses who quickly shushed him as he hurried down the corridor to Uma's bed. The noise of his boots clacking across the tile floor brought Harry out from behind the curtain, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in question.

"I need to speak with you and Uma immediately," Ben said.

"Harry, what's going on?" Uma asked, trying to yank the curtain back enough to see.

Harry turned slightly around, "Prince Ben requests an audience."

Uma chuckled and waved him in. "What's got your kingly robes in a twist now?"

Ben sat down in the chair Harry shoved his way as the pirate settled on the edge of the bed next to Uma, helping her sit upright. "How many ships do you have docked at the isle?"

"Altogether about a dozen, but not a single one of them sail, why?" Uma asked.

"Because we need a fleet of ships to help protect the waters between the isle and Auradon. If the villains try to flee north or south up the shoreline we won't be able to stop them unless we can catch them in open water before they reach land. We're going to need ships, weapons, and people to sail them. I've got requests into King Eric's naval fleet, Atlantica's royal guard and Queen Elsa for ships, sailors, and builders but I'm not sure it's going to be enough," Ben explained.

"So let me get this straight, you want to form a pirate army? Using the wrecks we have on the isle and who?" Uma replied, looking thoroughly stunned.

"That's right, I know it sounds crazy but we're going up against Ursula, Morgana and Captain Hook's crew who are all powerful in the water. If we can stop them there and get them back to the isle it might save hundreds of lives. So, we're going to need as many people who can sail or build ships as possible," Ben said.

"Well you know the only person who could possibly convince any of them to switch sides and go against the villains is Uma, but she's not exactly in any condition to captain a ship right now," Harry butted in.

"Ya and it was my own stupid fault, so I am going to temporarily give you my captaincy Harry and you're going to have to round up all the pirates you can. Without, of course, tipping off my mother, my aunt or your sister CJ," Uma declared, plucking her tri-corn hat off the bedside table and setting it on Harry's head. "I expect that back in one piece."

Harry's eyes were wide with surprise as he gently touched the hat. "There's no way they'll follow me without you there."

"Then we bribe them, threaten them and drag them kicking and screaming if we have to. You have to make this happen, Harry, if the pirates get here with the villains leading them I'll never make it out of this bed alive," Uma replied sternly.

"Well then, it looks like we brought reinforcements at just the right time," Mal said, stepping around the curtain with Evie and Gil following.

"Gil? What are you doing here?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Prince Ben sent for me, I got to ride in a fancy car and Evie said I get to live here now and go to school if I want. A bunch of other kids came over too, Uma, your cousin Maverick's here," Gil replied excitedly, giving Uma and Harry a broad smile.

Harry's eyes shot over Gil's shoulder, squinting at Ben, Mal, and Evie. "You could have at least given us some warning."

Ben ducked his head with a small smile. "Last minute additions, I figured it would be easier if we all knew everyone who was coming. I swear I just thought up this pirate army a few minutes ago, but it does fit into our plans pretty well."

Uma scowled and rolled her eyes. "Fine, then Harry you take Gil and Maverick with you. You're going to need to find Harriet as well, she's the only other person who might be able to convince the pirates who are working with CJ to switch sides."

"She'll never agree Uma, we haven't spoken in years and she hated the idea of pirating; wouldn't set foot on a ship if it was the last thing to save her life," Harry argued.

"Well it might just be if we don't get them to join us, they'll burn all of Auradon to the ground and loot our dead bodies," Uma growled.

"What would convince them?" Mal asked.

"Treasure!" Gil piped up.

Everyone exchanged looks.

"I seriously doubt Auradon's coffers have enough treasure for all the pirates on the isle. Is there anything else?" Ben asked.

"They'd probably agree if they had new ships, free roam of Auradon's oceans for treasure hunting and a promise of being captains themselves," Uma said thoughtfully.

"That I can do, I'm already commissioning as many new ships to be built as I can, which of course will need captains and crews. After that I don't see why they couldn't choose to either work for Auradon as part of our new navy or see if they can find buried treasure for Auradon's history museums and be able to get a cut of the rewards," Ben replied hopefully.

"Bloody hell, we're really going to try this aren't we?" Harry asked, looking a bit green around the gills.

"Yes, you're going to get me the meanest, nastiest, roughest crew for my brand new pirate ship that will out sail your moldy father's old Jolly Rodger any day of the week. There won't be a villain on land or sea who can hide from us, we'll take back the seas, dragging every single one who comes against us down to Davy Jones locker where there won't be a spell any Godmother can bring them back from," Uma cackled, a toothy grin crossing her face.

"Aye, aye Captain." Harry's own face split into a devilish smirk and he leaned down and captured Uma's lips with his own. Uma's eyes flew wide in surprise, before fluttering shut as she grabbed hold of Harry's shirt and yanked him forward on the bed. Gil broke out in a loud hooping holler, clapping his hands as Ben, Mal and Evie quickly diverted their eyes and beat a hasty retreat out of the infirmary.

 


	13. Hi Ho Hi Ho

Ch. 13

It was well after sundown by the time Jay pulled over the limo where Doug told him to, the great expanse of woods laying dark and quiet before them.

"How far from here to the cottage?" Jay asked.

"About another thirty minutes or so on foot, then the closest mine entrance is about an hour further on to those mountains," Doug replied, pointing to a faint row of jagged, snow-topped peaks cresting the trees in the distance.

"You're sure you can get us there in the dark?" Carlos asked, skeptically.

"Absolutely, there's a pretty clear trail and markers along the way so nobody gets lost. Making the hike from Snow White's castle to the Seven Dwarves cottage and mines used to be a pretty big tourist attraction, but I guess lately everyone who's ever want to see it has; so it's kinda been abandoned," Doug explained.

Equipped with maps, compass', flashlights and the rest of their gear in bulging backpacks, the boys locked up the limo and began their journey into the woods. It wasn't nearly as quiet as Carlos had first thought, nearly every step they took send something scurrying through the underbrush, the wind blowing through the trees rattled dry branches and sent pine cones crashing to the ground and owls could be heard hooting and screeching above them in the night sky. Carlos gripped the shoulder straps of his backpack tighter, he was not going to freak out over a few furry critters in the forest, there was nothing waiting in the dark to drag him off and eat him. As that thought crossed his mind he glanced back at Jay behind him, who gave him a smirk as though he could practically read his friend's scaredy-cat mind.

Doug was glad that his dad had emailed him over a map earlier that day, finding and keeping on the trail turned out to be more difficult then he'd originally thought. Although magic wasn't used in these woods anymore it was still a wild place and as soon as the human presence had gone, nature had been quick to reclaim any areas they had cleared. The trial was barely visible anymore and the markers had been covered in climbing vines, which Jay hastily yanked away. He'd reasoned that if they had to get back through here in a hurry, they wouldn't have time to keep stopping to check their map and compass.

"Okay, we should be here," Doug announced, as he stepped between a few large pine trees into what once had been a clearing.

"Uh-huh, is the cottage invisible?" Jay asked, looking around in confusion.

"No, just buried somewhere behind all those bushes and plants," Doug replied, motioning towards a wall of vegetation. "The last time I came here I was about eight years old, and it was pretty covered then too."

With Doug's guidance, the three began trying to find the front door underneath years of wild plant growth. The plants were deep-rooted, their stalks thick and strong and no amount of pulling from Jay made any difference. Carlos ducked down as Jay pulled hard to one side and crawled between a few stalks. Clamping his flashlight between his teeth, he climbed, crawled and wiggled through the tangle towards the house. Feeling the solid expanse of a door, Carlos shouted back to Doug and Jay and then shoved his shoulder hard against it. The wood creaked and bowed at the force but held firm until Jay managed to get through the plants and give it a strong kick. Doug winced as the wood splintered and cracked around Jay's heavy boot but held his flashlight steady as he and Carlos both started battering the door down.

Finally, inside, the three scanned the inside of the famous Seven Dwarves Cottage. Luckily the inside was devoid of any plants, and except for some dust, it was fairly clean. The kitchen area still looked in good shape and there were plates, silverware, and cups in the cupboards. A large metal pot hung over a cold hearth in the stone fireplace but there was a large supply of wood logs stacked neatly beside it just waiting to be used. Carlos started setting their packs on top of the long, low dining table in the center of the room while Doug ran upstairs to check on the bedrooms.

"I'd forgotten how small the beds were, nobody over five feet tall is going to be sleeping in those," Doug chuckled, coming back downstairs.

"It's alright, Jay's almost got the fire started so we'll be warmer sleeping down here anyway," Carlos said, hanging lit oil lanterns around the room for more light.

"I am so glad you guys came with me, aside from Ben I think all the other guys in our grade flunked Wilderness Survival training during our Fairy Tale Scout days. I seriously doubt any of them could start a fire and they definitely would have given up trying to get through that jungle back there," Doug said with a relieved smile.

"This kinda reminds me of camping out on the isle. We used to get together every now and then and find an abandoned building or open space to crash for a few nights whenever our parents were giving us a hard time. Mal found a cool hideout in this old factory building last year and we spent weeks fixing it up," Carlos said.

"Ya, it sure beat the hell out of sleeping under a shelf on the floor of my old man's junk shop," Jay added.

Doug snapped his mouth shut, deciding as he and Ben usually did when any of the foursome started reminiscing about their lives on the isle to just listen and try not to comment. Most of the time what any of them said was fairly shocking to the kids from Auradon, so they had mutually agreed that they would continue to try to make their lives better every way they could.

"Well it's not quite as comfy as our beds back at school but these goose down filled sleeping bags will definitely be comfier than the floor," Doug said, once he'd finished laying out the bags and pillows near the fireplace.

"I've got all our supplies laid out, we might want to repack our bags before we leave tomorrow, no point in taking the extra stuff we can leave here. Doug do you know how to get to the mines or which ones we need to check out?" Carlos said.

"I spoke to my Uncle Doc, and he was pretty sure the maps we would need were somewhere around here," Doug said, opening a closet and rifling through its contents. Several pick aces, shovels, dusty jackets and hard hats were thrown out before a triumphant cry was heard.

"That closets bigger then it looks," Carlos remarked as Doug climbed over the discarded pile just outside the door.

"This whole place is like that, my dad and uncles built it to fit all seven of them," Doug replied, taking a large rolled up piece of parchment to the dining table. "This is diamond mine number one, meaning it's the closest one to the cottage.

"How long as these tunnels?" Jay asked, tracing the fading ink lines across the paper.

"Miles I think, without these maps, you could get lost for days. My dad warned me that not all the tunnels are safe, there are cave-ins that have blocked a few of the passages," Doug said, pointing to a section in the lower right corner of the map that had a large red X over it.

"I don't see any rivers or underground springs on this," Carlos commented.

"But this isn't the only mine, right?" Jay asked.

"Right, so we just need to find a map with a tunnel near some water. Lets split up and start looking, the rest of them have to be around here somewhere," Doug replied, rolling the map back up.

Closets, cupboards, chests, and dressers were quickly pulled apart, all their contents scattered across floors, beds, and tables until several more rolls of parchment were piled in the kitchen.

"Nothing on this one," Jay grumbled sometime later, shoving map number four away from him to join map number two and seven that he'd already looked at and discarded as well.

"This looks like a river going through this one but it's crossing through about four different tunnels," Carlos said, holding map number three closer to the light.

Doug scooted closer to get a better look, but the writing was so faint and smudged it was difficult to decipher. "That may be a good one to start with then, the only other one I found with water is map number eight and that's going to be the furthest away from us."

"Then we know where we're going tomorrow then. When we get there, do we just pick the first tunnel and follow it?" Jay asked.

"There are five main tunnels, three of which branch out into secondary tunnels, two of those look like they may intersect with each other so we're going to have to be very careful that we don't wind up going around in circles. We should probably use the Hansel and Gretel method so we don't get lost," Doug replied, getting confused looks from the other two.

"Didn't they get lost in the woods and eaten by a witch?" Carlos asked.

"No, they actually outsmarted the witch and shoved her into her own oven, but afterward they had to get out of the forest so Gretel tied a red string to a tree branch by her family's house and they were able to follow it all the way back," Doug said.

"I thought they left a trail of breadcrumbs?" Jay said.

"They did the second time they went out into the woods, but the birds ate it, and Hansel realized they needed a better way that they wouldn't lose," Doug answered.

"I'm pretty sure I saw some bundles of string in one of the dressers, and if it's not enough there are a few blankets that are unraveling pretty badly we could use too," Carlos commented.

Now that their plan was set, the boys dug out the sandwiches that Jay had made earlier and settled down on their sleeping bags in front of the warm fire. It had been a long and active day and they began to wonder how everyone back at school was doing.

"I'm not getting any service," Carlos said, holding his cell phone above his head as he watched the antenna signal bar flash 0%. Jay and Doug both checked theirs out to find the same problem. "I wanted to call Evie and see who had come over from the isle tonight, I forgot to ask Ben before we left."

"Sorry guys, I guess we are pretty deep into the woods for cell phone service," Doug apologized.

"Seriously hope we don't need to call for help, 'cos I don't know how to talk to forest creatures," Jay muttered, tossing his phone back into his backpack.

"The others know where we are, if we're not back in a day or two I'm sure Ben will send help just in case. We can leave a note here at the cottage telling them which tunnels we were heading for, so even if we don't get back they'll still be able to find us," Doug said confidently.

Neither Jay nor Carlos had a better alternative so they agreed and ate their sandwiches in silence. Sleep stole over the three soon afterward and after brief goodnights, the boys were sound asleep.


	14. Mountain Mines

Ch. 14

The next morning, Doug was up with the sun, checking backpack supplies, grabbing the needed maps and eagerly rousing Jay and Carlos. He handed each one a breakfast protein bar and started shoving his feet into his hiking boots. "If we leave soon, we should be able to get to the mine before lunch, and still have time to explore before it gets too dark. If we don't find the river before nightfall we'll camp out there tonight so we can start again tomorrow morning."

"How long do you think it's actually going to take us to find the river, neutralize the artifacts and make it back to Fairy Godmother's?" Carlos asked.

"If we managed to do it all today, we still wouldn't make it back until tomorrow, and since we don't know if that water is really what we're looking for, then we'll have to try mine eight, and that's nearly four hours away from mine three," Doug replied.

"You're saying we could be out here for days?" Carlos asked.

"Only if everything goes worse then we planned," Doug said.

"Then we'd better get a move on," Jay said, slapping Carlos on the back with a half-hearted smile.

"Wait! What if Fairy Godmother doesn't have that much time? What if the barrier falls and we're still down in the mines?" Carlos asked, grabbing his backpack as he raced out the door after his friends.

"That's why we have to do this as quickly as possible, it's not safe to be in the mines after dark or we would have started last night," Doug replied.

Feeling the panic starting to creep up on him again, Carlos swallowed his fear and tried to keep up with the brisk pace Doug was setting as they left the cottage clearing and started towards the rocky narrow path that led along the base of the mountains. It was a very long walk, but the weather was clear and Carlos was very relieved that for the moment the only sounds were the chirping of birds and the crunch of gravel under their feet as the trees crowded in closer and closed off the clearing behind them.

Thankfully the path they were following was quite clear, and even if the vegetation did start to cover it, they could reach out a hand and touch the mountain side to keep going in the right direction. Once they found the first mine shaft, the three were able to follow a set of metal tracks that the dwarves had used to push large carts to and from while carrying heavy loads of stones and minerals as well as their mining equipment. The trail started going uphill after the second mine, slowly rising with the mountain, the edge of the trail dropping off quite steeply in a few areas. Doug warned them about possible rock slides so the three crept on as quietly as possible until the ground widened out once more.

The sun was high above the boys' heads once they finally got to the third mine. Doug took his backpack off and started digging around inside.

"The tunnels can be very dark inside, so everyone make sure you have your flashlight handy and stick an extra set of batteries in your pocket just in case. And take these," Doug said, handing Jay and Carlos a metal whistle on a string. "Put those around your neck, if we need to split up, one long whistle means 'everything's okay', two short whistles mean 'come to me' and three short whistles mean 'help'. We'll check in with each other every ten minutes, if you hit a dead end whistle for help if you find the river first call for the others."

Setting their backpacks just inside the mouth of the mine shaft, Carlos unstrapped the duffel bag that held all the artifacts, including Fairy Godmother's wand in the wooden box and slung it over his shoulder. He sincerely hoped they would find the river quickly and be on their way back to the cottage before nightfall.

Doug led the way, flashlight pointing confidently ahead as the three began their trek into the mine. The light slowly faded as they went further in until the only light left was the small beams of their flashlights. Jay reached out to put his hand on Carlos' shoulder, giving it a squeeze as he felt the tension coiled tight in his friend. Carlos was trying to feel cool and confident, but the mine echoed every step they took, the darkness was completely consuming and the air was stale and heavy. As a cobweb brushed across Carlos' arm, a sudden image of his mother's overcrowded, fur coat closet, littered with bear traps flashed through his mind and he stumbled, barely face planting the ground as Jay's grip tightened.

"Carlos?" Jay asked, keeping a firm hold on the shivering shoulder ahead of him.

"Ya just lost my footing," Carlos whispered, shaking his head to get the image to fade.

"Grab on to me, we should be coming up to the first split soon, we want the left path. I'm going to tie off a piece of string there so we can come back out," Doug said, stepping back to show them the map.

On and on the boys walked, time slowly going by as Doug guided them deeper into the mountain. "We're coming up to two more splits, it looks like both of these may reach the river, and one might link up to a different tunnel. So we can either separate and check them both out or stick together and do one at a time," Doug said, stopping as they reached the end of their path.

"How far until the river?" Jay asked.

"No idea, the path on the right looks like it just ends at the river, the one on the left splits again, one way goes near the river or to it, it's hard to tell, and the other winds around and runs into another tunnel," Doug replied.

"Do any of the other tunnels go near the river?" Jay asked.

"Two more I think, though they're much further along," Doug said.

"We should check out the tunnel on the right then if it doesn't go to the river we can come back and try the others," Carlos suggested.

Doug grimaced as he glanced down at his watch, "It's already 4 p.m. we really need to hurry."

Jay glanced at Carlos and heaved a sigh, "Then we split up, we'll each take a line of string from here and if we don't find anything in an hour we'll head back. Carlos, you should take the tunnel closest to the river, but don't do anything until we all get there."

"Okay, be careful and don't get lost," Carlos warned, clenching his shaking fingers around the duffel bag.

Making sure his string was tied off to one of the metal rails on the ground, Carlos watched as Jay and Doug disappeared down their own tunnel, their string bobbing and bouncing behind them. Having no other choice Carlos started down his tunnel, his flashlight beam quivering as it lit up the rocky ground ahead of him. It felt like he'd been walking for hours, his string slowly unraveling behind him, the coil getting smaller while Carlos felt like he was getting nowhere. The roof of the tunnel began to shorten, and as Carlos reached up he could tell it was cold and damp. As the floor started to slope down, the tunnel widened out and was abruptly cut off. Carlos scanned his light right to left and back again but there was nothing but empty darkness. Pointing the light at his feet, Carlos took very small steps until the ground disappeared over a very high ledge. His flashlight beam couldn't reach the bottom of the pit, and there didn't appear to be a way across it so he started rolling his string back up and retracing his steps.

Once Doug and Jay reached the split in their own tunnel, Jay took the right-hand path and Doug took the left. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes to get this far, so both decided to try and make up some time.

"Bet I get back before the hour is up," Jay grinned.

"Bet I find the river first," Doug replied.

With that, the boys set off as quickly as the could manage. Jay kept one hand on the wall of the tunnel as he swept his flashlight across the ground, large boulders blocked the path in several areas, making him have to climb up and over. As he gripped a wooden support beam while trying to squeeze between the top of a rock and the roof of the tunnel, the rotted wood splintered beneath his hand causing Jay to tumble down the back of the rock and the beam to collapse. Rocks began to cascade down on top of him and Jay heaved himself to his feet, trying to move out of the way. The tunnel shook and groaned as the support beams along the path started to buckle under the shifting rocks. Jay braced himself against the wall, until the shaking stopped, dust filling the air and making him cough with each breath.

With the path now blocked, Jay carefully started working his way deeper into the mine. Unfortunately, a larger cave in at some point had cut off the rest of the tunnel up ahead and Jay couldn't get much further. Going back, Jay began moving as many of the small rocks as he could out of the way, trying to reach the ones that had closed off the small space between the large boulder and the collapsed support beam.

Doug felt like he'd been going in circles for an hour already, his tunnel kept twisting and turning and if he'd already walked into the adjoining tunnel he couldn't tell. A deep rumbling began shaking the ground beneath his feet and he immediately turned back and started running, terrified that they were all about to be trapped.

Carlos slowly got up off the ground as the shaking subsided, grabbing his whistle he sent out a single long note. Silence swallowed the sound, and Carlos strained his ears trying to listen.

Doug stumbled in his headlong rush as he heard Carlos' whistle and fumbled to grab his and reply. He sent off an answering single long note followed by two short ones and continued running.

"Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay," Carlos chanted, picking his way carefully back the way he had come. The pounding of boots met his ears as Doug burst out of his tunnel, almost barreling into the other boy, both looking relieved to see the other. "Where's Jay?"

"I don't know, did you whistle?" Doug asked.

"Yeah, so when I heard the two short ones I headed back. My tunnel just ends, there's a huge cliff and nothing," Carlos replied, looking anxiously down the tunnel Jay had taken.

"Mine just kept going, I don't know where I was actually or if I was even close to the river at all," Doug said.

Suddenly a loud crack was heard, followed by the crashing of rocks, and Doug and Carlos each huddled against the wall until the ground was steady once more beneath their feet.

"Let's get Jay and get out of here, if the mountain comes down I say we just leave the artifacts buried here," Carlos said, as he and Doug headed down the tunnel.

Jay crawled back from the boulder he'd been trying to clear, the air thick once more with debris and rock dust, stinging his eyes and throat. Every time he tried to move the rocks more slipped down from the ceiling and the other wooden support beams were cracking and breaking.

"Jay! Can you hear me?" Carlos' frantic voice rang through the air, as he and Doug ran into the blockage in the tunnel.

Jay scrabbled up the side of the boulder, sticking his hand through the small opening that was left. "Yeah, I'm here, just need a hand moving these out of the way."

Doug eyed the rocks and the split beams warily. "If we move too many we could cause the whole tunnel to come down, these posts aren't going to hold up much longer."

Carlos gave Doug an almost frantic look. "How else are we going to get him out?"

"What we need is more support for the beams that are breaking before we try moving the rocks," Doug replied. "Stay here, I'm going to go and see if I can find anything."

"Man, I really don't want to be stuck down here forever," Jay sighed.

"Well you did want a good hiding place, so I think this qualifies," Carlos snickered, earning a groan from Jay.

"Haha, this is not what I meant," Jay groused.

"So, did you find anything down there?" Carlos asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah a dead end, you?" Jay replied.

"A really big hole," Carlos said. "It went down so far I couldn't see the bottom, the river might be somewhere down there."

"That sounds promising, if we could fly," Jay said, his tone bitter and sarcastic.

Carlos carefully climbed onto the large boulder, getting as close to the small gap he could hear Jay through as possible. "Jay, don't worry Doug and I are going to get you out of there."

"There's not a lot of time Carlos, you should take the map and keep looking. If the tunnels keep collapsing we might all get stuck and then you'll never get the wand back to Jane," Jay replied.

"Jay that's crazy, we're not leaving you behind," Carlos protested.

"I was only along as backup Carlos, you're the one who has to finish this," Jay insisted.

"Damn it, Jay, I'll drag every single one of the seven dwarves here to dig you out if I have to but I'm not leaving you here," Carlos argued.

"I didn't say I wanted to stay here, just promise me you'll deal with the wand first, okay?" Jay snickered.

The two lapsed into a heavy silence until they finally heard Doug coming down the tunnel.

"Find anything?" Carlos asked impatiently.

Doug nodded, slightly out of breath. "Back by the entrance, there are a few extra pickaxes, shovels, and more wooden beams. I can't carry them all back by myself though."

"There was a cart down my tunnel, we can get it all in one trip," Carlos replied, sliding down the rock. "Jay we'll be right back."

By the time Doug and Carlos made it back to the front of the mine pushing the heavy cart along the tracks, it was dark outside and getting cold. The wooden beams were easily over six feet long and weighed nearly eighty pounds each, making them very ungainly to move. They filled the bottom of the cart with rope, shovels, pickaxes and their backpacks while balancing two of the beams across the top.

"Jay, once Carlos and I get the beams in place you can start removing the rocks, very slowly and carefully. If anything starts shifting stop immediately," Doug instructed, as he and Carlos tried to move the beams in the dark.

"Jay, can you stick your light through the hole and see if we're going the right way?" Carlos asked.

"There, Carlos lift your end up, you're right under the edge of the support. Doug drop your end down and move forward," Jay said, wiggling himself as close to the opening as he could get.

"Carlos be very careful, don't bump that support. If it breaks it could cause the entire wall to cave in," Doug warned, as Carlos tried wedging himself between the side of the boulder and the wall without dropping the beam.

"Okay, it's good. Let's get the next one," Carlos said, slowly stepping away from the beam.

The next beam was put into place as well, right under the edge of the cracked section and Carlos stood anxiously by as Jay began digging his way out. Bit by bit the hole widened as Jay worked the rocks loose. Carlos moved forward once Jay was able to stick his head through and tried to help.

"The beams' too low, even if we get all these rocks out I won't be able to get my shoulders through," Jay said, as he shoved against the opening.

"If we move that beam the whole ceiling will come down, it's caught itself on the top of that boulder and it's the only thing keeping it up," Doug said.

"What if we dug out the side of the wall?" Carlos asked hopefully.

"It's too unstable," Doug replied with a shake of his head.

"Then we go back for help, if we leave right now we can probably make it to the limo and into town by tomorrow morning," Carlos said.

"Carlos stop. You'll waste way too much time, Fairy Godmother won't last much longer. You have to find the river," Jay replied sternly.

Carlos balked, the last thing he wanted to do was try going through the creepy, dark tunnels alone while leaving Jay stranded behind.

"Carlos, listen to me. This whole mission is about saving Auradon from our parents and the rest of the villains. I'm not the one who has to help finish this, you are. You have to get the artifacts neutralized and back to Jane so she can keep that barrier up or I might as well stay here because we're all going to die anyhow. I know these mines are seriously freaking you out, but are they really worse than your mother?" Jay added, earning a shake of the head from Carlos.

"Alright Jay, but don't try to move those beams until I get back. We'll figure a way to get you out so we can all go back to Auradon together, okay?" Carlos said, reaching out to clasp Jay's hand through the small opening.

Jay gave him a smile. "Get going man, the faster you get the wand to Jane the faster I can get outta here."

"I promise Jay, I'll do everything I can to keep Auradon safe," Carlos replied, steeling himself for what he was about to do.


	15. Sacrifice

Carlos knew what he needed to do as he left the tunnel, the promise to Jay still on his lips. He was not going to be the one who failed this time, he was not going to let everyone down or give the villains a chance to overthrow Auradon.

"Carlos, what are you going to do?" Doug asked, racing after him.

"I've got to get the artifacts purified," Carlos replied.

"But how? we can't just leave Jay and go exploring the rest of the passages; we were supposed to stick together," Doug said, sounding on the edge of frantic.

"That's why you're going to stay with Jay while I do this, then I'll go find help," Carlos explained.

"You can't do this alone, it could take days for you to find the river and if you got lost or hurt we'd never know!" Doug exclaimed.

"Which is why we have the rope. You're going to lower me down so I can get to the river at the bottom of the cavern in the tunnel I explored earlier," Carlos explained, tossing him a large bundle of thick woven climbing rope.

Doug followed quietly behind until Carlos showed him the very dark, very foreboding cliff he intended to descend. "Carlos, while I greatly admire your commitment to see this quest through, I'm wondering if this is really the best course of action? Perhaps if we went to get my dad and uncles, rescued Jay and explored the last mine we would find an easier way to do this."

Carlos wanted to heed his friends' advice, it sounded much more logical then what he was about to do but Jane was counting on him. "We've already been out here for nearly two days Doug, Fairy Godmother can't hold out forever and you're right it would take too long to search without Jay. This is the quickest way to help everyone."

As much as Doug wanted to argue with Carlos some more, he decided against wasting his breath as the other teen wrapped one end of the rope around his waist and looped the other around a large boulder before handing it to him.

"Hold this tight, use that rock as an anchor and slowly let out some slack as I go down, okay?" Carlos instructed, getting a hesitant nod in return.

Once over the edge of the cliff, without Doug's added flashlight it was completely pitch black. There were no shades of grey anywhere to distinguish his surroundings, just all consuming darkness everywhere he looked. His eyes soon ached from trying to see anything, so he focused on the rope in his hands and the jagged, slick rock beneath his feet. It was impossible to see how far down he'd gotten but the sounds of rushing water slowly began to get more clear. The louder the noise got, the more confident Carlos became that this was the right choice after all. As he was about to call out to Doug, Carlos realized his rope had gone taunt and he couldn't go any further.

"Carlos, I'm out of rope. Are you at the bottom yet?" Doug yelled, his voice echoing throughout the cavern.

Carlos straightened his legs and kicked, trying to feel for the ground. "Not yet, and it's too dark to see."

"Climb back up, we'll find another way," Doug replied.

But Carlos had come this far, the water was right below him somewhere, just out of his reach. Even if this was the last thing he did, at least it would keep these weapons out of their parents' hands and give Auradon a fighting chance if the barrier fell. He just wished he could have gotten Fairy Godmother's wand back to Jane, he hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed in him. Fumbling in his pocket, Carlos pulled out his pocket knife and began sawing on the rope.

Doug braced one foot against the rock the rope was around and pulled backwards, trying to help haul Carlos up. The weight seemed enormous for having such a small, teenager on the end of it and he quickly promised to work harder in Athletics practice once they made it back to Auradon Prep if he could just manage to pull his friend to safety. He'd just begun to inch backwards when the rope suddenly went slack in his hands and he fell with a thump to the ground. The abrupt loss of resistance startled Doug for a moment before he scrambled on his hands and knees to the edge of the cliff. "Carlos! Carlos, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

The silence was near deafening as Doug strained to hear his friend. Carlos never replied, instead a slight splash was heard, causing Doug's fear to become panic. Leaping to his feet, Doug tore off back down the tunnel towards where Jay was trapped and waiting for rescue.

Carlos gripped the handle of the bag tightly as he felt the rope give way and he began to fall. he wasn't sure how far he was from the bottom but he hoped he wouldn't crash into the cave walls or any rocks along the way. The noise from the river was a constant roar in his ears and he was grateful that he was getting closer. 

The shock of hitting the icy cold water stunned Carlos for a moment before he threw out his arms in an attempt to pull himself to the surface. The current was swift and brutal, swirling eddies spinning him around until he was dizzy before he collided into a boulder sticking out of the river bottom. As the river descended through the mountain, Carlos was pulled along helplessly, fighting to keep himself from slipping under as the water roared around him and over his head, the heavy duffel bag on his back dragging him down.

Feeling his body slam into another large rock, Carlos groaned as pain ripped down his arm and he felt the bag snag on something behind him. Floating limply in the water, he reached up trying to dislodge the bag as the right strap tore in his hand, his body swinging into the cave wall. Carlos tensed his left arm, keeping it curled into his chest, and struggled with his other arm to free them both. As the bag finally loosened, the current yanked him back into motion, relentlessly pushing him onward. 

Time lost all meaning in the lightless mountain river, it could have been minutes or hours and Carlos would never have been able to tell nor could he have guessed how far he had come. Staying awake began to become a struggle as the freezing water numbed his legs and arms, his chest wheezing with every breath, tight and painful. Exhaustion caused his eyes to slip closed, only to have them snap open a few moments later as his mouth flooded with murky, silt-filled water. Coughing and choking, Carlos raggedly gasped, not sure how much longer he could hold on. As loud as the rushing water was, for a moment he thought it started to sound louder, a pinpoint of light could be seen, gradually getting bigger. Carlos focused on that light, fighting with all he had left to keep his eyes open and limbs moving. The light was eventually all he could see, blinding him as he felt the river bottom drop out beneath him as he plunged down the side of the mountain hundreds of stories to the river below that wound its way through the dense forest.  
*********************

"Carlos, Doug, what's up?" Jay asked, hearing pounding footsteps coming down the tunnel towards him.

"Not Carlos, just me. He went over the edge of the cliff, we ran out of rope, then it just went loose," Doug panted in a rush.

 

Jay pressed himself against the large boulders, trying to peer through the small opening. "What do you mean, it went loose? Where's Carlos?"

 

"He thought he could put the artifacts in the river but we didn't know how deep the cave was and after the rope went slack he never answered me, and I heard a splash," Doug explained frantically.

"You mean Carlos is in the river? He can't swim! We have to get to him now," Jay exclaimed, beginning to dig at the blockage.

"But Jay you could cause another cave in and we'd both be trapped in here," Doug warned.

Jay's hands stilled, his fingers curling into fists as he growled in frustration. "Damn it, I promised to keep Carlos safe and I'm stuck inside a mountain while he's probably drowning. Doug, you've gotta get me out of here, I don't care if the whole thing collapses."

Doug carefully looked over the pile of large rocks and wooden beam debris. "Okay, I think I may have a way but as soon as I say we've got to run or this whole tunnel will bury us."

The boys worked quickly, clearing all the smaller rocks and widening the gap at the top as much as possible. Jay could now get his head all the way through and was sure they only needed one more rock moved to be completely free.

"This next ones' going to be tricky, it's the only thing keeping the roof from caving in but if I prop up a few beams around it you should be able to get out before they give way," Doug said, wedging several large wooden supports into the ceiling in a semi-circle.

"I'm ready when you are, just give me the signal man," Jay replied, bracing himself against the rock.

Using a broken piece of wood as a lever, Doug wedged it between the wall and the rock and leaned all his body weight into it as Jay shoved at the rock from the other side. The movement began to loosen the surrounding debris and dirt rained down on them. Doug could hear the wood from his lever creaking in protest and he mentally begged it to not crack as he gritted his teeth and pushed harder. Jay swore under his breath, cursing the rock, the mountain and every other thing he could blame on his situation as sweat poured down his forehead, stinging his eyes while he shoved at the rock. Finally, a grinding noise was heard and the rock began to move as more dirt and small stones fell faster on the two.

"Jay, get ready to run," Doug warned, glancing nervously at the ceiling that was trying to fall on their heads.

Jay grunted in response as the rock was rolled free and Doug's hand reached down to grab him. Jay lept forward through the opening just as the beans gave way with a terrifying crash, one of the catching him across the back of his right leg, sending him sprawling to the ground on his stomach.

Doug yelped in surprise as he was yanked back, his hand still holding tight to Jay's. "Jay are you alright?"

Pulling himself forward along the ground with his arms, Jay managed to get his leg out from under the bean and Doug quickly slid an arm under his shoulders and helped him to his feet. "I can't walk on it, something is wrong with my leg."

"Okay then just hold on to me. I've won every three-legged race at Auradon Prep's picnics since freshmen year," Doug proclaimed proudly, hurrying the two of them out of the tunnel as it continued to collapse behind them.


	16. Cruel Intentions

As the sun slowly sank over the horizon, the shops lining the dingy streets of the Isle started to close up and the hawkers head home for the evening, Ursula and Morgana silently slipped out of the Fish and Chips shop. Men tying up their boats for the night gave the two a wide berth, eyeing them cautiously, unused to seeing either lurking around the docks. 

"What do we do if the barrier really is down?" Morgana asked.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the wenches had a good plan. We'll test it and go back and begin spreading the word that we're going to attack Auradon. But we can't just load everyone on ships and sail over in force, it'll draw far too much attention and the Auradon guards will be lined up waiting for us," Ursula replied.

"Then we sneak over, surely they're not watching the shores all the time? If we go in small groups, late at night, hide in some offshore coves and wait to strike when they're least expecting it we'll have the advantage," Morgana suggested an oily smirk on her face.

An answering cackle was all Morgana needed as an answer as the two slid soundlessly into the dark, cold water and began swimming out to the magical barrier.  
*************

"So? Was the rumor true or not?" Lady Tremaine asked the moment she let the two sisters back into her house later that night.

"It's not down completely, however, I did manage to get a tentacle through without losing too much skin," Ursula replied, showing off one of her tentacles that looked fairly singed and red but still whole.

"Oh, the first thing I'm going to do when I get to Auradon is get my poor Carlos back! My furs haven't been cleaned properly in months," Cruella exclaimed.

"Ladies, please. If the barrier really is failing then retrieving your lost children really isn't the most important issue. We need a way to take hold of Auradon, it's the main seat of power in the kingdom," Lady Tremaine said.

"Well, you must know that Auradon probably already knows the barrier is failing, which means they're watching it very closely. If we start loading up ships and sailing them out to sea in force then they'll just counter us and we'll be dead before we reach Auradon's shore..." Ursula began.

"But if we sneak over, a few at a time, in the middle of the night they'll never see us coming! We can have them surrounded before they can send out a single guard," Morgana interrupted excitedly.

"A sneak attack, brilliant!" Cruella laughed, clapping her hands together.

"You may be right, we don't know their military numbers, how many ships they may have or what magic they could use to counter us with. If we capture Beast and Belle we can hold them hostage and take the rest of the country without even having to get our hands dirty," Lady Tremaine replied thoughtfully.

"What about Fairy Godmother's magic wand? Nobody would stand in our way if we had control over that, and we could turn Maleficent back too," Evil Queen asked.

"The wand could prove to be too powerful in the wrong hands. All it took was Maleficent's spawn waving it around, spouting some nonsense about being good to turn her into a lizard. If we can find it, we can use it as a bargaining chip, hold it over their heads so they behave. But I'd rather see it broken into a million pieces before I see one of those goody-two-shoes aim it at me," Lady Tremaine said, her eyes flashing dangerously in the light from the fireplace.

"And if there were other magical items, powerful enough to guarantee our continued reign over Auradon?" Ursula asked slyly.

"Do you mean the trident, sister? Isn't it still locked away in Atlantica?" Morgana asked.

"It may be, but I've heard of other powerful items that may be even more useful and I believe they keep quite a few right there in Auradon," Ursula replied, getting interested glances from the other women.

"Well, if Fairy Godmother's wand is there, then Maleficent's staff, my magic mirror and who knows what else is probably there too," Evil Queen said.

"Getting those should be our top priority after getting to Auradon then but just before we attack or they'll surely notice they're missing and become suspicious," Lady Tremaine agreed.

The women talked late into the night, scheming and plotting their attack on Auradon and the rest of the kingdoms, eager to begin. With the arrival of dawn, a messenger was sent out to several of the most influential and powerful villains on the isle, letting them know that the time for revenge against their foes was near at hand.


	17. Dragon rescue

Mal really didn't like going behind Ben's back when he insisted that she stay and keep working with Jane but after hearing about Jay, Carlos and Doug going off to search in the old Dwarven mines, she'd been uneasy. She'd tried to distract herself by checking in with Evie and seeing the newest arrivals from the Isle but her best friend had been on pins and needles without being near her beloved sewing equipment and it had worn off the last bit of resistance she had. Which is why she was now in her dragon form, winging her way over the forest towards the mountains.

 

Unfortunately, Evie hadn't been able to tell her exactly where in the mountains the boys would be, just that Doug had been pretty sure there would be some sort of underground lake or river and that they'd begin their search at his father and uncle's old cabin in the Snow White Woods. Mal started by following the main road, knowing the limo they drove had to be along it somewhere. Once she found it, she was irritated to find the nearly overgrown path through the trees was impossible to see from the sky and it would take too long to walk. Mal circled overhead, before turning to her right and heading towards the nearest edge of the mountains. Just before she reached it she flew over a small clearing where she was sure she could just make out the peak of a wooden shingled roof and stone chimney. Figuring it was the cottage Doug had described Mal felt her hopes rise and she gave her wings a few extra strong flaps.

 

The grey, craggy peaks of the mountains loomed ahead of her, stretching into the clouds above and far into the distance beside her. They were much larger and more foreboding then Mal thought any pile of rocks had a right to be. She huffed irritably as she drew closer, scanning the trees for any movement or signs that Jay and the others had been there. The setting sun was casting ever increasing shadows, making Mal's sight worse by the minute and her wings ached from keeping her aloft for so long already. Giving a roar of frustration, she turned her attention to finding a place to land. A few miles away she picked up the sound of running water and eagerly made her way towards the chance for a drink and a rest. The trees gave way to a winding river that moved steadily through the forest from a very tall waterfall several hundred feet up the side of the mountain. There was just enough room at the base of the waterfall for Mal to land without being in the river, though the spray did a good job of cooling her off once she transformed back into her human body.

 

As she knelt down to scoop up some water to drink, a piece of fabric caught between some rocks caught her attention. Quickly gulping down the frigid water, Mal stretched herself out and grabbed hold of the material, which turned out to be a very large duffel bag. The handle on one side was torn free, it was soaking wet and bore the Auradon Prep logo. Mal immediately began searching the area, calling out for her friends.

 

Hurridly searching the water and along the banks, Mal became increasingly worried when she found Aladdin's magic lamp and the Sorcerer's hat half drowned in the river. Using the bag like an oversized glove, Mal carefully maneuvered both of them into the duffel bag, then she slung it over her shoulder. Something red colored was hung up on a rock just ahead and Mal sprinted forward, recognizing a scrap of leather from Carlos' beloved jacket. Just beyond that, a lump lay half out of the water, not moving except for the barely discernable rise and fall as it still breathed.

 

"Carlos!" Mal shrieked, sliding to her knees next to the prone figure. Turning him onto his back, mal hooked her hands under his arms and pulled him the rest of the way out of the water. He was unconscious, his skin pale and lips tinged blue from the cold. Reaching back, Mal slapped Carlos' cheek so hand it snapped his head to the side, but he otherwise didn't respond. Shucking off the duffel bag and her jacket, which she covered Carlos in, Mal hurridly placed some rocks in a large circle, filled it with sticks and dry leaves and changed into her dragon form in order to light a fire and help warm her friend up.

 

With the fire blazing, Mal curled her large body around Carlos as carefully as possible, trying not to nick him with her sharp claws. She spread out her wing to cover Carlos as a cool evening breeze ruffled the black and white hair that was drying in his previous trademark curls. Mal snorted at the thought of Carlos' annoyance once he saw how his oh so carefully coifed hair had so easily reverted back to his boyish ringlets. He'd been trying so hard this past year to appear more grown up and mature after meeting Ben and being around all the Auradon princes, even though he was still a year younger in age and several more years older mentally.

 

As the sun continued to set and a chill began to creep up, Mal glanced anxiously around, where in the world were Jay and Doug? What if they'd gotten washed further downstream and needed help? Where were the rest of the artifacts that Carlos had been carrying? Mal's legendary impatience was beginning to get the best of her and she momentarily entertained the idea of breathing fire directly onto Carlos if he didn't wake up soon. A low moan caught her attention a moment later as Carlos began to stir, rolling slightly onto his side closer to Mal's warmth. Mal snuffled gently at the top of Carlos' head, unable to speak in her dragon form.

 

Carlos slowly cracked open one eye, his vision blurry. UNsure of where he was, what he saw in front of him only served to confuse him further. Purple, a very strange, yet somehow familiar wall of purple only a few inches from his face. Lifting the arm he wasn't lying on Carlos tried to touch the purple wall, only to feel a sharp stinging pain shoot from his shoulder down to his elbow. He hissed and quickly brought the arm back to cradle against his chest as he tried to roll onto his back. the wall of purple wasn't just in front of him, it was completely surrounding him Carlos noticed in muted awe. He supposed it was better than the infinite darkness he'd been in before and at least here he was very warm. Suddenly the purple ceiling above him shifted and he felt something large touch the crown of his head while an even warmer burst of air washed over him, flattening his head to his forehead. A low rumbling growl prompted Carlos to top his head back, his eyes widening in utter shock at the purple-scaled nose, snout, and face that greeted him.

 

"Mal?" Carlos whispered hopefully. The large green eyes blinked once as the giant head nodded.

 

Carlos slowly sat up, every bruise, and laceration flaring to life as he did so. "What are you doing here?"

 

The large wind retracted and mal stood up as she shifted back into her human form. "Sorry, still haven't figured out how to talk when I'm like that. And I'd think it was pretty obvious, I was saving your life."

 

Carlos looked around now that his dragon shelter was gone, realizing he was outside, beside the river. "How did you find me?"

 

"Dumb luck, I was heading for the mines but needed a break so I stopped for a drink and found a few carelessly discarded artifacts in the river and you nearly dead washed ashore," Mal explained, a hint of annoyance tinging her voice.

 

Carlos ducked his head at her accusing glare. "I tried to neutralize them in the river but the current was too strong."

 

"So it took you out of the mountain, via that lovely waterfall, you lost the artifacts along the way and what happened to Jay and Doug?" Mal asked.

 

"Oh no, Jay is still trapped!" Carlos yelped, struggling to climb to his feet.

 

"Trapped? Where?" Mal asked, quickly grabbing Carlos' arm as he wavered.

 

"In the mine, his tunnel collapsed. That's why I had to finish with the artifacts fast so I could go for help," Carlos explained.

 

"Speaking of which, we should really find them before someone else does," Mal suggested, handing the duffel bag with the two she'd recovered to Carlos.

 

The two began picking their way along the river bank, steadily moving further away from the mountains as they searched for the lost artifacts. Most were finally recovered before it became too dark to see, sunk in the soft river bottom or caught in the rocks; except for Fairy Godmother's wand.

 

"I can't believe I lost it," Carlos groaned.

 

"I can't believe it either, but this what happens when we split up and I'm not around to call the shots. As smart as you and Doug are, why is hurtling yourself several stories off the side of a mountain the best plan you could come up with?" Mal retorted sharply.

 

Carlos slumped down onto the ground. "It wasn't Doug's idea, he tried to talk me out of it but Jay was trapped and Fairy Godmother and Jane are running out of time. I didn't know what else to do Mal."

 

"It really must be the end of the world if you're admitting that. Well, look on the bright side, I'm here now. It's too dark to keep searching, so we'll go rescue Jay and get the artifacts back to Auradon Prep for Ben to lock up. I can fly back here tomorrow in less than an hour once it's light and look for the wand again," Mal replied.

 

Carlos sighed heavily and nodded, Mal was right, as smart as he and Doug were neither of them was a born leader like Maleficent's daughter. She always had a plan and inspired complete confidence in others that followed her. Carlos had seriously missed her the last two days and was relieved to hand the reigns back.


	18. Down the mountain

Jay and Doug hobbled as quickly as possible out of the tunnel as the beams snapped and hundreds of pounds of the mountain filled in the space behind them.

"Geez, that was close," Doug huffed, as the two stood back at the opening where the tunnels split off.

"Yeah, now let's go get Carlos before all these tunnels decide to cave in on us," Jay replied, starting to tug Doug down the far right branch.

"Jay, we can't go that way, if Carlos did fall into the river then we need to find out where it took him," Doug explained.

"Like he's in another tunnel or something?" Jay asked.

"Maybe, I need to look at the maps, but I'm pretty sure this river is the same one that flows through the woods and into the lake near Snow White village," Doug said.

"What? The river goes for miles and the village is nearly two days walk from here and in case you forgot I've only got one good leg right now," Jay barked.

"I know, but we picked these mines because they met up with the river, meaning we shouldn't need to search the others, just follow the river out. It flows fast through the mountain because it's going downhill, with any luck Carlos wound up at the bottom and is waiting for us," Doug answered, a confident smile plastered to his face that made Jay's eye twitch in irritation.

"Luck? I wouldn't say anything about this trip has been even remotely lucky man," Jay groused.

"Well, then we're due for some from here on out. Nothing else can possibly go wrong, smooth sailing all the way!" Doug grinned.

"Are you sure you're not Happy's son? And you know you're tempting fate with all that positive nonsense? You keep that up and we'll both die before we get out of here," Jay said with a roll of his eyes.

"Nope definitely not Happy's son, though you're not the first to accuse me of it. Actually, I learned a lot about how to look on the bright side of things from my Uncle Grumpy. He likes to see things for what they really are, the facts of the matter, he never sugar coats things but tells them plainly. So if something is bad then you accept it and find a way to make it better if you can," Doug explained.

Jay just shook his head in amusement as Doug continued to ramble on about his dad, uncles and all their many quirky attributes. Although most of their very Auradonian way of thinking still baffled the VK, the dwarves were nothing if not a very interesting bunch and the time quickly passed as the two hobbled out of the mines and down the long, windy path alongside the mountain. It was getting colder as the sun set and Jay's leg throbbed wickedly with every step, making him wonder if he'd broken it. He'd always been so agile and athletic since he was a small child, never getting more than a sprain now and again when trying to outmaneuver someone he'd tried to steal from. Luckily he and Mal were tied for the most stubborn and headstrong so Jay turned his attention back to Doug's story and steadfastly ignored everything else.


End file.
